The Ranger War
by AM83220
Summary: Sequel to the alternate universe story "And a Teenager Shall Lead Them"
1. Chapter 1

**Update**: Originally I'd intended to post a new chapter every two weeks. Sadly, I have been unable to maintain that schedule. From now I'll be doing my best to get a new chapter up every twenty-one days, but I can make no promises.

Disclaimer: Obviously I own none of these characters

**WARNING**! I offer absolutely no guarantees, explicit or implicit, that this story will have a happy ending. If you're bothered by the prospect of evil triumphing, or of good triumphing for that matter, don't read this tale. For those with an open mind, enjoy!

Notes: This story is a sequel to the alternate universe tale, "And a Teenager Shall Lead Them." Please read that story first or you'll have no idea what's going on. If you have already read AATSLT then fasten your seatbelts because you're in for one twisty, bumpy ride to the end !

Timeline: This story begins one day prior to the final scene of AATSLT.

Finally, special thanks to everyone who reviewed AATSLT; without your glowing reviews this sequel would never have been written.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

William Cranston removed his glasses with one hand and rubbing wearily at his eyes with the other. He couldn't keep going for much longer; he was about to drop as it was. Where was the endless energy of youth and the ability to pull all-nighters he'd read about? Didn't college students his age do that all the time?

The cheery adage "You're only as old as you feel" flashed through the genius' mind and he snorted in tired amusement. If that were true, he was even older now than he'd been when his Regenerator's side-effect had propelled him into his eighties!

Sure, chronologically he remained a fit, healthy twenty-two year-old, but that certainly wasn't how he felt inside.

'How in the galaxy had Zordon managed to handle and cope with all of this?' Billy wondered for at least the thousandth time. He had always deeply respected the extra-dimensional entity, but it was only since trying to take his place that he had learned how extraordinarily difficult the role of the Rangers' mentor was, and how amazing Zordon had truly been.

Even in his tragic death Zordon had contributed towards saving the galaxy! His martyrdom at the claws of Dark Specter, coming on the heels of Earth's fall, had at last jolted the remaining free planets out of their complacency and pushed them into uniting against the UAE. The Galactic League of Light had been born, and their first official military action had been to retake the planet Eltar, in Zordon's memory.

A pair of slender arms suddenly wrapped themselves around the blond man's chest from behind, jolting him from his train of thought. With a sigh he leaned back into that embrace, a familiar voice whispering into his left ear.

"It is time for you to come to bed, my husband," Cestria breathed in the watery tones of an Aquitan.

"Just give me five more minutes," Billy wheedled.

"One of your researchers has already succumbed to slumber," Cestria observed, releasing him and pointing to his left.

Billy glanced along the leftward length of the console to see Cestro with his head resting on his folded arms, the computer screen before him dark as his skin.

"My other one's still awake," Billy argued, motioning toward the brown-haired boy seated to his right, whose eyes were locked on the computer screen and whose fingers danced deftly across the keyboard.

"He does not sleep," Cestria pointed out sternly, and they'd been married long enough that Billy didn't have to glance back at her to know there was a frown growing on her comely visage.

"Cestria's right, Billy," the apparent thirteen year-old chimed in as he turned toward them. "You should get some sleep. After all, _you're_ only human," he finished with a sly grin.

Stranding up Billy reached out and violently ruffled the smart-aleck's artificial brown hair in mocking retaliation, making Justin laugh and duck away.

The twenty-two year-old genius knew when he was beaten, though, experience having taught him that once both of them were against him there was really no practical point in putting up any further resistance.

"Let me know in the morning if you're able to find out any more ancient Eltarian references to Morphin energy," he instructed his little protégé, and the android nodded eagerly.

Next Billy dropped a hand to Cestro's shoulder, the Blue Aquitian Ranger jerking awake at his touch.

"Time to get to bed, my friend," Billy told him gently.

Cestro nodded a bit sheepishly, getting to his feet and swiftly making his way to the room's only door.

Then Billy took Cestria's face in both of his hands, the tips of his fingers just brushing the bottom of the elaborate, tan, bumpy skull-cap all Aquitians wore, and he kissed her, pointedly ignoring the loud gagging noises coming from behind him.

Arm and arm the couple left the massive computer which took up the whole of the western well, passing the viewing globe and the teleporter controls standing in the center of the Command Chamber, and going out into the hall, walking the final few dozen feet to the front door of their living quarters.

After their lovemaking Cestria fell quickly asleep in Billy's arms, smiling contentedly. For him, in spite of his deep weariness, the peace of sleep was far more elusive. As happened almost every night now his mind was refusing to shut down. It kept whirling through various possibilities, linking scientific principles with ancient legends, postulating theories of vulnerabilities he hadn't yet explored, relentlessly seeking to craft a coherent, workable solution to the scourge of the Psycho Rangers.

Only the certainty that Justin would rat him out to Cestria in the morning kept Billy from getting out of bed and returning to the Command Chamber. If he couldn't sleep, why shouldn't he work? The beautiful, simple logic of that proposition, however, had weeks ago been defeated by his wife's stubborn insistence that once he went to bed, he stay there until morning. So he would, in the hopes that he might perhaps get to sleep at least soon enough to alleviate some of the exhaustion he was feeling before he rose again tomorrow.

Although he'd been teasing when he'd said it, Justin was right: Billy was only human. He needed sleep, sleep he hadn't been getting enough of for a long time. He'd considered taking sedatives, assuming he could find some which would work properly on his alien physiology (here on Aquitar _he_ was the alien), but he feared they might end up temporarily dulling the mental acuity and intellect he relied upon so heavily.

'And what do you think being overtired is doing to you?' his mind asked in his wife's arch tone.

Yet he was so close! The answer was out there, somewhere just beyond his mental grasp; he was sure of it! Knowledge was power; Billy had believed in that dictum all of his life, with every atom of his being. All he had to do was discover that one more bit of knowledge, the one which would break this stalemate and end the threat of the Psycho Rangers forever.

He had to be the one to finish it, since he'd had a hand in creating it.

Billy unconsciously clung tighter to the love of his life as that unspeakable truth once more echoed through him. Guilt was a non-productive emotion, he'd told himself firmly over and over again. It changed nothing, but he couldn't help feeling it all the same, as he had ever since the liberation of Eltar by the Galactic League of Light.

During his last year on Earth he'd been working feverishly on a project which had consumed much of his time. He had told no one about his goal except Zordon and Alpha 5, and he hadn't been able to finally achieve it until he was on Aquitar, with access to that world's technological advances and information.

When he was sure his somewhat revolutionary new principles were sound and that his tiny prototype was functionally correctly, he had transmitted the schematics for the full-sized version, the morphers, and the Zords back to Earth.

It was his final parting gift to his friends and former teammates, by far the greatest of all his many inventions: a new source of Morphin power, one which when built would rival the Zeo Crystal itself in terms of energy output!

He had known his absence would be felt in the Power Chamber, that the lack of his technological know-how would seriously hurt the team; sending them his breakthrough was his way of at least partially making amends for his departure.

Zordon had arranged for the morphers and Zords to be assembled on Eltar and teleported to Earth. The new source of their power, the mighty, multi-story Turbo Turbine, had also been constructed on Eltar, since that was the safest place in the galaxy for it-or so everyone had believed.

When Dark Specter's forces had taken the planet they'd found and deactivated the Turbo Turbine, depriving the Earth Rangers of their powers. Thankfully soon after that they'd found Andros, gaining from him the Astro powers to replace their lost Turbo powers.

Two years later, when the GLL forces had retaken Eltar, Billy and his wife had been aboard the flagship, ready to work to salvage what technology and intelligence they could from the world. Delphine had sent for Billy before the fighting was fully finished, asking that he teleport to the massive palace the UAE had constructed on Eltar. The White Aquitan Ranger had assured a worried Cestria that the palace was secure and after he arrived Delphine had soon shown Billy why she had requested his presence.

At the heart of the palace was a throne room meant for the UAE's ruler. The beautiful white marble walls of the vast, stadium-sized chamber were blackened with numerous laser blasts, its floor strewn with Quantron parts and rubble; this was where Dark Specter's palace guard had made their last stand. The true area of interest, however, was not on the floor, but in the wall.

Built into the right wall near the thirty-foot tall throne was a kind of gruesome trophy case consisting of five differently colored metal doors, each with a huge circular transparent window set in the upper half. Only these niches didn't contain sports awards; they held the bodies of five Rangers.

Even now he could remember the terrible shock he'd felt at the sight of a dark, dead face which only a few weeks ago he'd seen on his laboratory viewscreen. The Blue Astro Ranger had commed Billy from Earth, desperate for help, and he had done the best he could to aid T.J. and Cassie. Had T.J. already been found and killed so soon, his corpse brought here for Dark Specter to display and gloat over?

Billy had instinctively looked away and in the viewing portal of the next door he had spotted Cassie with her head cleaved in two, interior circuitry visible in both halves.

That was when he'd realized with a rush of relief that these weren't humans beings exhibited in grisly triumph; they were androids.

"I though you might be able to do something for them," Delphine had explained, her tone a mixture of apology and a touching, humbling faith that he had the skills to somehow fix even this.

He'd had no chance to answer, since word had come at that moment that League forces penetrating the subterranean bunker housing the massive Turbo Turbine had discovered that it was still running!

Learning his invention was still operating had come as a second shock. He'd figured the UAE had destroyed it or at best had left it to gather dust once they'd turned it off.

When he got to the bunker he examined the controls carefully and soon determined that the turbine was sending energy to five active morphers in various places on Earth.

Most of the Rangers of Earth were gone, and they hadn't been using the Turbo powers anymore anyway. So what could-

Then it had hit him, harder than any blow he'd ever taken. The Psycho Rangers, the dark counterparts who had destroyed most of the Astro Ranger and made the conquest of Earth possible. They were drawing power from HIS invention!

Billy's next action had been to run the abbreviated emergency shutdown procedure, his hands trembling and his head pounding. He had been consumed by the drive, no, by the _need_, to stop those monsters from continuing to utilize his ideas and inventions for their own twisted ends.

When the Turbine at last spun to a halt his deep and overwhelming sense of shamed guilt had been briefly eclipsed by a primal, savage satisfaction. Let's see how the Psycho Rangers liked that!

He'd gone back to the palace then, to thoroughly examine the remains of the fallen Robot Rangers.

T.J. had been intact from the mid-chest upward, but that portion of him rested on an interior shelf in his alcove. The rest of him was in pieces at the bottom of the capsule, having been blown apart by some sort of explosion.

In addition to a badly damaged left arm, Cassie had been split entirely in two lengthwise.

Carlos' head had been crushed almost to the thickness of a sheet of paper and he was missing the ends of both arms.

Justin had taken a laser blast to the chest, one powerful enough to melt a fist-sized hole through him. A steel spur from the wall jutted out grotesquely through that hole, keeping his shorter body suspended in his alcove at the same eye-level height as the other Rangers.

Ashley had been hit directly in the abdominal power source with some kind of piercing weapon and had gone offline almost at once, leaving her the least damaged of the five.

He had spent days thoroughly mapping out their operating systems, examining the intact portions of each one in order to develop and draw up a complete composite design schematic of a functioning, intact android. When he was sure he understood the hardware behind them he began studying and scrutinizing their software, their programming and memory.

Fifteen days after he had first laid eyes on them he replaced Ashley's power source and rebooted her. The rest of the Robot Rangers followed, as quickly as he could repair them. By then Cestro, the Blue Aquitar Ranger, had been free to help him, the Rangers having finished their task of seeking out and destroying the last pockets of resistance on Eltar.

Billy by then knew what had happened, given his perusal of Ashley's memory banks. Dmitria had developed and created these androids, fashioning them to be exact replicas of the second Turbo team, not only in terms of appearance, but also mentally. With her Rangers' consent she had copied their minds into these artificial forms and entrusted them with newly built Turbo morphers. There had even been a test run on Earth to make sure everything was functioning properly. Then the Robot Rangers had been shipped to Eltar to aid in the defense of the planet. They'd been there when the United Alliance of Evil had descended in numbers too overwhelming to resist. They'd resisted anyway, and had been destroyed for it.

He could easily hypothesize what had come next. The Robot Rangers' morphers had been stripped from their remains. The devices must have been altered extensively, but clearly they were still powered at least in part by the Turbo Turbine. Those changed morphers had then been used to create the Psycho Rangers.

In an indirect and unforeseen way, Billy's present to the heroic protectors of his home planet had ended up killing most of them and ensuring the brutal conquest Earth.

This grim realization had nearly broken him. Without Cestria's unwavering support and the urgent imperative of rebuilding the Robot Rangers he honestly didn't know if he would have made it.

He had loved Cestria from almost the moment he had laid eyes on her; she was the whole reason he had chosen to stay on Aquitar. And apart from the fact that the five androids deserved more for their heroism than violent deactivation, the Galactic League of Light needed the help of the Robot Rangers

Because the Psycho Rangers would be coming.

Not immediately, not after Billy had shut off what he hoped was their primary power source. By doing so he had bought the GLL some much needed time, but no more than that. Sooner or later the UAE leadership would find a new source of energy for their champions. Then the Aquitan Rangers would be up against the team who had already slain most of the Astros. Billy wasn't about to let them face that kind of threat alone, not if he could help it.

He and Cestro had worked day and night for months rebuilding the fallen Rangers. They'd largely succeeded, but some things simply couldn't be fixed. Cassie had suffered a serious loss of memory and almost nothing on Carlos' main drive had been salvageable. The two were still able to act as Rangers, but Carlos' personality had been effectively lost and Cassie had what amounted to partial amnesia.

The other three Rangers had been devastated by seeing their teammates' fates, more so than by their own "deaths". T.J had taken out his feelings in training and sparring, Ashley had taken to looking after the two in spite of the pain it had caused her, and Justin had spent his time developing a new separate memory storage system to "back up" his, Cassie's, Ashley's and T.J's central processors.

Billy had never had the pleasure of meeting the "human" Justin Stewart, a fact he increasingly regretted the more he came to know the robotic version of the boy. In several ways he was almost painfully like Billy at that age: the genius IQ, the startling mechanical and technical aptitude, even the seeming inability to connect with others of his own age, or at least of his apparent age.

In other ways, however, he was completely different, like in his hunger for a father figure and in the bright, childish enthusiasm which shone out as such an integral part of him. Taking Justin under his wing had been so easy and natural Billy had barely realized he was doing it, not until one night at dinner when Cestria had jokingly asked him what he and his "lab assistant" had worked on today.

With Justin and Cestro's capable aid Billy had assembled five new Turbo morphers in record time and had reset the Turbo Turbine to emit on a different frequency than before. He had personally asked each android if they were willing to be a Ranger again, and each one had acquiesced. He had given them their new morphers and the Robot Rangers had rejoined the ranks of the defenders of the galaxy.

Integrating them with the Aquitan Rangers had proven to be a more difficult undertaking, however. Not due to any real antipathy between the two groups, but merely because they were so _different_.

The telepathy which Aquitans used for so much of their interaction was useless in communicating with the Robot Rangers. The Robot Rangers, for their part, were adapting to a whole new society and species, and as mechanical beings they were understandably uneasy about living in a fortress located beneath the surface of an ocean and replete with pools of water everywhere (Which was why the first modification Billly had made to them subsequent to their reactivation was to cover up the exposed inner workings in their chest area with a layer of impermeable synthetic skin).

As a human who had nonetheless chosen to live out his life on Aquitar, who had rebuilt the Robot Rangers, and who had won the respect of the Aquitan Rangers years prior, Billy quickly realized he was the being best situated to act as a bridge between the two groups, to advance their understanding of each other.

How this had led to him slipping into the role of mentor to the united team was something his genius intellect was to this day still struggling to understand.

He'd always thought of himself as the tech support. Thus it was only natural for him to construct a new Viewing Globe, develop a cloaking device based on the Phantom Ranger's technology, and maintain the teleporter, Battle Borgs, even the Robot Rangers themselves! This was his realm of expertise and he was quite comfortable there. He was far from comfortable acting as the guiding force of the GLL's only hope, but he did it, because the Rangers wanted him to, because his wife continually encouraged him to, and because . . . there was no one else. Not anymore.

Zordon was dead, his energy drained away by Dark Specter. Dimitria was also gone, having died resisting the invasion of Eltar. Ninjor too was dead, slain by the Red Psycho Ranger almost a half a year ago now in his own temple. He was literally all that was left, worthy of the position or not.

The galaxy's losses since the war began had been truly staggering. Millions of beings had been killed, entire planets conquered and enslaved. His own homeworld had fallen to occupation, with only two Astro Rangers left there in hiding to try to turn the tide.

The GLL had won victories too: the liberation and continued safety of Eltar, the capture and imprisonment of Divatox, the blowing up of Sprocket. Yet the war raged on regardless.

Billy was certain the key to bringing the conflict to a close lay with the Rangers, Light and Psycho both.

Many would dispute his conclusion, arguing that in a war of tens of thousands, a mere handful of fighters on either side could not possibly have any real effect on the outcome, but those people didn't have access to the same information Billy did.

Few the Rangers indeed were, but each was the wielder of great power. In the vanguard of an invading or defending army they acted as an incredible force multiplier, enormously enhancing their side's ability to deal damage.

And the morale effect of the Rangers' presence was virtually incalculable! The faith and trust that the peoples of the Galactic League of Light put in their Rangers was matched only by their terror of the Psycho Rangers. And on the UAE side the Psycho Rangers performed a key role in suppressing treachery and dissent among the Alliance's many ambitious leaders, while also keeping the conquered subject populations fearful and compliant.

Billy had run countless simulations and statistical analysis programs over the past two years, every computer model bearing out what he had suspected from the beginning: Whichever side lost their Rangers would almost certainly lose everything. At its most basic and fundamental level, this galaxy-spanning struggle was in reality a Ranger war.

Only days ago it had seemed that the UAE's loss of the Psycho Rangers might finally be at hand. Even with the destruction of the Blue Senturion and the Phantom Ranger obviously unavailable for combat, the Light Rangers and the Gold Ranger had bested the UAE's foul doppelgangers time and again, dispatching their accompanying monsters and forcing the Psycho Rangers' masters to pull them from the field in defeat. Victory had appeared inevitable, so much so that for over two months the Psycho Rangers hadn't even so much as shown their helmets!

Then only ten days ago there came the sudden, overwhelming assault on Triforia while Trey was there, putting an end to the hope of imminent triumph-and putting an end to the noble Gold Ranger as well. That the GLL had been able to retake half a dozen planets and seize a sizeable advantage in naval positioning and numbers seemed scant comfort for the loss of their most powerful ally and his homeworld. It was all the more agonizing because the apparently abrupt nature of the decision had led to the invasion occurring before his source could get word of it to him.

He had anticipated that the Psycho Rangers would then assail the Light Rangers to exploit their momentum, but according to his most recent intelligence the Psychos were remaining on Triforia. At least they were all there except for the Blue Psycho Ranger; there was no hint as to where he was; in fact he'd been missing since the Psychos' last battle with the Light Rangers.

That bit of data worried Billy deeply. Given the meaning of the various colors even among the Psycho Rangers, the Blue one was the enemy he _least_ wanted to be out of his sight!

What was the UAE planning? And would he and the Light Rangers be able to successfully counter whatever scheme was in the works?

With a sigh he opened his eyes. As they adjusted to the dark Billy gazed at the varying shades of blue spread throughout the room, allowing the sight to soothe him and hopefully bring him a step closer to at least a troubled sleep.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Reclining on his comfortable bed Justin Stewart, the Blue Psycho Ranger, was leisurely perusing Sun-Tzu's "The Art of War".

It was amazing how applicable much of Sun Tzu's advice remained, many centuries after it had been written. It was fortunate indeed that the brilliant strategist had lived so long ago; had he been alive today Justin would have needed to kill him as a simple precaution.

The Blue Psycho Ranger's idle musings were interrupted when the door to his room slid open. A tall teen in a sleeveless, shimmering golden shirt, black jeans, and custom black and gold sneakers entered, looking down on the six foot two, muscular, blue-clad and brown-haired adolescent.

"Done," Fred announced. "I put my dad right next to yours, just like we planned."

"Good," Justin complimented him, memorizing his page number and shutting the book. "Did you have any problems?"

"No," the Gold Psycho Ranger replied. After a brief pause he asked, "This was necessary, right?"

"Absolutely," Justin affirmed as he sat up on his bed. "Thanks to Stone my Dad knew too much and it only made sense to take care of yours at the same time rather than leave him running around Angel Grove. Better safe than sorry, Fred."

"I guess so," the seventeen year-old concurred, his right leg stretching back behind him to hook a chair and bring it forward in one easy, athletic motion. Dropping into it he began to voice his objection. "It's just . . . "

"Go on," Justin encouraged him.

"I don't even know if he's going to _like_ Miami."

"Like it or not, it's the best place for him. There's zero rebel activity there, almost no occupying presence, he's got credits enough to last him a lifetime, and he's got my Dad in the condo next to him for company. They can reminisce together about their heroic rebel sons."

A snort of laughter escaped Fred before he could help it. That description had been true of him only a week ago, but thanks to Justin he was on the winning side now.

Unfortunately that wasn't something Dad would be able to understand, anymore than Justin's dad could. Hence the elaborate facade of them separately "rescuing" their fathers from the UAE and bringing the two safely to Miami to live under alternate identities. It gave the fathers a plausible reason for their boys' absence, kept them away from rebel involvement, and, with the concealing wizardry Justin had pulled off with the central computer, put them safely out of reach of anyone who might want to use them against the two Psycho Rangers. Later, after the war was won, maybe they could open their fathers' eyes the same way his own and Justin's had been. For now this would have to do.

"I gotta say, though, this was a whole lot less fun than fooling Cassie," Fred commented ruefully.

"It'll always be more fun to trick someone you hate," Justin pointed out logically. "Tomorrow should be the most fun of all, though."

"Why? What's happening?"

"Now that we're done here we'll leave tomorrow at eight A.M. from the spaceport with the next shipment of Quantrons bound for Triforia and the Dark Fortress. Once the entire team is assembled we'll be able to strike at the Light Rangers."

"Why aren't we teleporting to Triforia?" the new Psycho Ranger asked curiously.

"Because teleportation beams can be detected, traced, and sometimes even interfered with," Justin explained. "We try not to do interplanetary teleporting unless we have to. It's safer and subtler to take a ship. As a wise man once said, war is deception," he declared, holding up _The Art of War_.

The seventeen year-old nodded in understanding as Justin went on.

"Hopefully by this time tomorrow we'll have slaughtered the Light Rangers. You ready to stomp some tin cans and gut some fish?"

"More than ready," Fred asserted to his friend, his expression one of rapt, eager anticipation. Thanks to his neural net Fred loathed the Light Rangers as much as any other Psycho, and he was obviously dying to figuratively flex his new muscles for the whole of the UAE to see.

"Better make sure my skills are up to the challenge, though," he continued unexpectedly. "Feel like sparring again?" the darker-haired boy invited with a wicked grin.

Justin frowned in reply, unconsciously wincing at the invitation. He'd won their first sparring match in the mountains, but that had been before Fred had assumed the mantle of the Gold Psycho Ranger. Every time they'd fought since then the now-empowered Fred had beaten Justin with humiliating ease. The Gold Psycho Ranger powers were insanely potent and Fred's almost instant expertise in using them was nothing short of remarkable!

Again Justin wondered irritably why Dark Specter had thought it necessary to modify the Gold Ranger's staff rather than using the spare Blue Morpher. They could have taken the Light Rangers with just a normal Psycho Ranger addition; they didn't need a fucking Super-Psycho!

And he didn't need to be battered into insensibility again and again as Fred gloatingly flaunted his newfound might either! He could only be thankful that he'd had the foresight to give Fred a neural net like his own rather than the standard template; the thought of _Fred_ with the overwhelming bloodlust, violent rage, and notable lack of self-control of a standard Psycho Ranger was enough to make even Justin squirm uncomfortably.

"How about a game of chess instead?" he challenged, and now it was the young Kelman's turn to scowl.

After the other boy's neural net was implanted he had required time to come to grips with his altered feelings, to abandon his old ways of thinking. That he would do so was never in doubt; in fact it was inevitable! Emotions were the motivating fire of humanity, and Fred's flame had burned particularly bright. The passionate intensity which had led him to dedicate his life to freeing humanity had simply been redirected to the pursuit of his own enjoyment. With his conscience gone, with violent hate for his old companions and all rebels inserted into his mind and with a dozen other emotional modifications in place it was impossible for even the strong-willed seventeen year-old to hold on to his former allegiances. How could he, when he utterly despised them now?

Justin had both eased and sped the transformation by introducing Fred to all of the many pleasures a champion of the United Alliance of Evil could expect, the first being a sumptuous celebratory feast. After days of intravenous feeding, the dark-haired teen had ravenously devoured the delicious food set before him. His new accommodations were of the highest quality, done in a psychologically pleasing gold and black color scheme with pure silk sheets covering the cloud-soft mattress of his king-sized bed.

That bed had seen a lot of use in the past week. Since the new Psycho Ranger had not yet been ready to select his own choices from among Earth's population, Justin had, in an act of true friendship, gritted his teeth and shared his harem with his ally. Fred had enjoyed that a lot.

They'd also indulged in a variety of sports and games, Fred's competitive streak, natural adeptness, and Psycho-enhancements making him a more than worthy opponent in almost all arenas-except that of chess. He had never played the game before, while Justin had played frequently with his father. He was admittedly a bit rusty, not having sat behind a chess board for years, but he had still demolished his new friend in less than twenty moves.

The power-packed teens glared heatedly at one another for a moment.

"_Mortal Kombat_?" Fred offered at last.

"Deal!" Justin agreed, setting Sun-Tzu's book on his nightstand and rolling off his bed to get out the controllers.

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	2. Chapter 2

"Easiest battle I've ever been in!" Fred boasted seconds after the three Psycho Rangers had rematerialized in the _Envenomed Blade_'s wardroom.

The teen was in exuberantly good spirits, and why shouldn't he be? Although he'd understood the strategic necessity of it, the limited strikes from hiding which the resistance had mounted had always frustrated and chafed at him. Now he was taking on his foes directly and fucking _wrecking_ them! That was how you waged war!

Justin demorphed almost immediately, which was odd since he'd told Fred a few days ago that, for safety's sake, Psycho Rangers almost never demorphed outside of their own private quarters.

The Red Psycho Ranger, facing him directly, did not demorph and Fred was admittedly in no hurry to do so either. The amount of sheer **power** he felt in his morphed form was practically addictive!

"I'll report to Queen Astronema that our mission was accomplished," the Red Psycho Ranger announced, and even underneath the electronic tone Fred thought he could hear a sneer.

The reunion between the sensei and his former student had not gone well. The calm, patient, encouraging martial arts mentor the teenager fondly remembered was no more. Tommy was a barely-contained inferno of angry aggression now, and he treated his old pupil with unmasked disdain and superiority.

For his part Fred found himself deeply resenting Tommy's failure to bring him into the Power Rangers, especially given what Tanya had told him in the aftermath of Ivan Ooze's defeat. Yes, Justin had indeed deserved to be a Ranger, but so had he! Tommy should have recruited him the next chance he had. Instead the dark-haired leader had left him to rot and it was only thanks to Justin that he was now finally enjoying the position and abilities he should have held for years.

"Tell her to send me alone next time; you guys slowed me down," Fred quipped, digging the verbal knife in far deeper than he ever had while kidding that dead bitch Karen.

Tommy spun around, going into a fighting stance, but Fred was already prepared for an assault from the volatile leader.

What he wasn't prepared for at all, however, was an attack from behind.

Something swept against the back of his legs and he hit the deck hard. The next thing he knew Justin's left arm was down across his neck, though with the protection of his neck guard he felt no pressure.

"Red Psycho is our leader. Keep pissing him off and you'll end up in more pieces than most of the Sekarian royal family."

In shocked anger at this unexpected betrayal Fred seized Justin's wrist, prepared to break the hold across his neck and probably several bones as well. Justin was a total idiot to attack while unmorphed! As the Gold Psycho Ranger could rip the other boy's entire arm off with almost no effort!

Except Justin had to know that, Fred realized abruptly, and in truth the other boy was the exact opposite of an idiot; he was a genius! So why would he do something so stupid?

His hand still clenched tightly around Justin's wrist, he looked up into his teammate's impassive face, trying to understand . . . and he caught a wink.

"Remember the lesson our Blue Ranger is teaching you, Fred," Tommy sneered down from above him. "It could save your life."

The leader kicked hard at the groin of the prone Ranger before turning on his heel and storming out of the room. Fortunately Fred's armor protected him from almost all of the force of the impact.

Justin released his hold the instant Tommy left the room and stood, bravely offering a hand to Fred. Resisting the temptation to pull Justin down full force onto the steel deck, the Gold Psycho Ranger rose up like a gathering storm and glared at his friend.

"Let's go to my quarters," Justin suggested. Fred followed behind, grinning slightly at the way Justin rubbed at the wrist he'd seized. The sight brought back fond memories of his last day with Cassie.

The two did not speak again until the light gray of the corridor gave way to the varying blue hues of Justin's private chambers. The _Envenomed Blade_ cruiser was the usual transport for the Psycho Rangers, and hence each member had his own room, decorated to his or her tastes. Well, except for Fred, but that would change very soon.

And because the _Envenomed Blade_ was the Psycho Ranger transport of choice, no one had blinked an eye when Justin had ordered that the new Quantrons transported with him from Earth should replace the ones previously crewing the ship. The Psycho Rangers deserved the best and newest of everything, after all.

"I'll give you a chance to morph now, so I don't splatter you across that bulkhead when I hit you," the Gold Psycho Ranger generously offered, pointing to the far wall of Justin's room as he spoke.

"Will you at least listen to my reasons first?"

Leaning back against the wall, his staff pointing menacingly at Justin's face, Fred warned him, "This better be _great_."

"Tommy was about to attack you. What I did stopped him in his tracks and made him think that I was on his side."

"You _were_ on his side!" Fred growled. "You should have let him attack me! I could have taken him!"

"I know you could have, Fred, but you don't want to, at least not yet."

"Why the hell not?" the Gold Psycho Ranger demanded in open exasperation.

"Sekarias didn't have to be dealt with now. This mission was a test for you, one set by Tommy. If you'd killed him immediately afterward Dark Specter would probably think that either you'd failed it or that you were too dangerously unstable even to be a Psycho Ranger. He'd have taken your powers away, Fred," Justin concluded gently.

"If you beat Tommy and didn't kill him, though, he'd rally the other Psycho Rangers against you. Even you'd have a hell of a tough time facing all of them at once, and we can't afford to be divided against each other, not when we still have the Light Rangers to annihilate!"

Fred stood silently for a moment, studying the brown-haired adolescent through his helmet's visor, considering what he'd been told.

"So you're saying what? That I've gotta bow and scrape to Tommy forever even though I'm stronger than he is now?"

"Not forever, just for a little while. Tommy's reign as leader is coming to an end."

Seeing his friend stiffen in surprise Justin went on quickly. "He's not going to forgive you for being more powerful than him, Fred. He'll make sure that you always know your "place"; under him. With how much you love showing off I don't think you'll be able to put up with that for long. Am I wrong?"

"No, you're right," the other teen admitted, his posture losing its adversarial bent. "I can't help it, Justin. After going from cowering under that illusionary dome for so long to _this_ . . ."

"I understand," the Blue Psycho Ranger sympathized, and he truly did; he'd been the exact same way when he'd gotten super-strength from that mutant ant-bite all those years ago.

"Tommy isn't a worthy leader anymore anyway, not with the way his neural net works. You and I are the only sane ones, the only people fit to lead this team. It's up to us to get rid of the current Red Psycho Ranger."

There it was, out in the open. Left unsaid was the fact that Justin intended to take Tommy's position himself rather than let Fred assume the mantle of leadership. There was no need for his friend to know of that yet; when the time came the Gold Psycho Ranger would have no choice but to accept Dark Specter's decision.

"You mean kill him?!"

"Yes. The two of you can't co-exist, and I pick you, Fred."

"Thanks, Justin," he said quietly. He demorphed, resuming his normal form and banishing his staff to the pocket of extra-dimensional space it occupied when he didn't immediately need it. "What's the plan?"

"For now let's look an opportunity to kill him during a fight in a way that can't be linked to us. If nothing comes up soon we'll explore other options. Sound good?"

"Yeah," Fred agreed, stepping forward and abruptly snap-kicking the other teen in the torso. The Psycho Ranger doubled over and Fred lashed out with his right fist, sending the genius adolescent crumpling to the deck.

When he had finally caught his breath Justin glared murderously up at his teammate.

"Come on, I told you before that no one does something like that to the Gold Psycho Ranger and gets away with it," Fred chided with a teasing grin.

In a virtual mirror image of what Justin had done mere moments before, Fred graciously extended a hand downward to the teammate he had felled. The Blue Psycho Ranger took it, and was surprised at the ease with which the other boy hauled him to his feet. When they'd met Fred had been fit and lean, but now the biceps on his bared arms were considerably larger than Justin remembered from their sparring match on the mountain. Were the beneficial physical side-effects of being a Psycho Ranger manifesting for him this quickly?

Disgruntled though he was at being caught off-guard, Justin was mostly relieved that he hadn't suffered far worse injury. He never would have dared do to an ordinary, frothing-at-the-mouth Psycho Ranger what he had done to Fred. Even with Fred, rational, clear-minded, and programmed to think of Justin as a friend, there had been a risk. He could have acted on his anger, but the seventeen year-old hadn't let Justin down. He had figured out that there was more going than there appeared to be and had actually let Justin explain before taking vengeance. He was even going to help Justin destroy the Red Psycho Ranger! Between Justin's brains and Fred's brawn, Tommy didn't stand a chance!

It gave the brown-haired teen a warm feeling inside to once again be working toward the same goal with a genuine teammate, an ally he could like and trust. How had he ever managed to go for so long without having a friend like Fred?

The answer undoubtedly lay in the structure of his previous neural net. With extreme bloodlust and aggression as your dominant emotions you didn't generally feel the need for companionship, friendship, or indeed an entire host of other things. It made for a satisfying existence in its way, but such a narrow one! This was better; it was much better.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Opening his eyes Billy glanced over at the chronometer sitting on the small bedside table. Wha . . . he'd overslept! His left hand scrambled at the device, checking the alarm setting. It was set correctly, but the alarm switch had been flipped to off, and he had a pretty good idea of who had done it.

After a quick shower, tooth-brushing, shaving and all of his other morning routines Billy got dressed and headed for the kitchen, from which the scent of fried tagor eel was already drifting throughout the apartment. His favorite breakfast (living on Aquitar had required him to adjust his palate considerably). To Billy this was as good as an admission of guilt

Turning from the stove as he entered the room, the woman he loved shot him a brilliant smile, and for a moment the young adult forgot all about being annoyed.

"Good morning, my love. Did you sleep well?"

"I slept too long," Billy replied meaningfully, taking his place at the table. "Someone switched off my alarm."

"But did you sleep well?" the dark-haired beauty persisted, skillfully using a spatula to flip an eel from the skillet to the plate in her left hand and then repeating the trick. "Did you fall asleep quickly last night, without trial or difficulty?"

There was only one answer he could make to that question, and to avoid having to give it the glasses-wearing, light-haired man looked down at the plate she put in front of him, and the glass of water she set next to it. Aside from a brief grace the only sound in the kitchen for some minutes was the scraping of utensils and the eating of eel. When Billy had finished he looked up to find his spouse sitting in her place across from him, her head cocked in that curious way Aquitans were so prone to do and her eyes upon him as she patiently awaited his answer.

"No, I didn't," he admitted at last.

"Then you needed more rest, did you not?"

"I needed to get up at the proper time to continue my research," Billy protested.

"Then why do you not have Cestro awaken at the same hour as you? Is he not helpful, not an asset to you?"

"Of course he is!"

"Then why do you allow him to sleep later?"

How on Aquitar had this gotten turned around on _him_?

"Because . . ." Billy began and stopped.

"Because he needs rest to do his best work, and so do you," Cestria admonished.

Checkmate, Billy conceded with an inward sigh.

"Don't you get tired of taking care of me?" he asked wryly.

Standing up she walked around the table, leaned down, and gave him a quick kiss.

"While I was a Ranger I protected this entire planet and eventually I did grow weary of that duty and responsibility. Now I protect you, even from yourself, and that I will never tire of, my husband."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The Command Chamber, the living quarters, Billy's lab, the medical wing, and the recreational area for the Light Rangers were all within the same small section of Inqertus, Aquitar's largest on-planet military base. Centuries of practice and tradition dictated that Aquitar's Rangers were not subordinate to the planet's military, but they did cooperate closely with it and with the rest of the League's forces. He met regularly with the GLL's highest-ranking officers and the smooth coordination this had produced had proven essential in prosecuting the war.

Perhaps, if Earth had had a similar relationship with its Rangers . . . Billy shook the useless thought away as he entered the communal living area, which was about twice the dimensions of the Angel Grove High gymnasium, but far less empty. It boasted a viewing screen, sparring mats, exercise machines, bookshelves filled with discs for mobile readers, a dartboard, a dining table, chairs, and couches

Centrally placed was a deep pool of water and Delphine, the White Aquitar Ranger and his wife's best friend, was at that moment standing on its surface, absorbing the pure elemental water energy which the Aquitar Rangers required to survive.

Over on the sparring mat Aurico, the Red Aquitar Ranger, was fighting energetically with Corcus, the Black Aquitar Ranger. Observing the match was T.J., the Red Turbo Ranger, and Billy guessed the bald African-American android was slated to face the winner.

Curled up on the couch in front of the viewing screen were Ashley and Carlos, watching some Aquitan drama. Since their reactivation Ashley had frequently been in the company of Carlos, a claim no other member of the team could make. It was as though she believed that by spending enough time with him she could somehow force him to remember himself and bring back the Carlos she had known. The logical impossibility of this proposition didn't seem to discourage her efforts in the slightest.

Recently Justin had succeeded in perfecting his psyche-copying machine for the Robot Rangers, but the breakthrough had come far too late for Carlos. Worse, thanks to the infiltration attack three months ago by the Matter Master, there were no longer any spare bodies available for a saved consciousness to be uploaded to. Billy had been sparing as much time as he could to spend constructing new bodies, though the work was slow going. The Robot Rangers were likely the most complex androids in the galaxy, especially given the innovations Billy had installed, and replicating their forms was neither quick nor simple.

Further complicating the effort was the difficulty of obtaining several of the rarer necessary parts in a galaxy riven by war. Thus none of the reserve bodies in his lab were more than three-fourths completed at most, though that could change if the chance arose to scavenge parts from a destroyed Robot Ranger. That doing so would make Billy feel like a ghoul would be secondary to the vital importance of restoring the Robot Ranger in question.

There was no sign of Tideus, the Yellow Aquitar Ranger, or Cassie, and Justin and Cestro were undoubtedly hard at work in the Command Chamber. They were working, while he had slept in. With a twinge of guilt Billy turned around and headed toward the Command Chamber. There was nothing he'd needed in the communal room except to see the Light Rangers, or most of them at any rate.

Justin and Cestro were indeed in their seats before the Command Chamber's central computer, Billy saw as he entered the room. He'd been driving them hard since Triforia fell and along with it their most powerful member. Maybe it was time they were allowed to relax too.

"Okay, guys, it's break time," Billy announced as they both swiveled in their chairs to face him. "Today's your day off."

Cestro inclined his head far to one side and questioning, "Why do we have today off?"

"Because I've had you working in here for weeks, researching historical records, studying new technological advances, and brainstorming with me on ways to defeat the Psycho Rangers. It's time you were free to have fun for at least a day."

"Billy, we know the need before us. We wish to help," Cestro announced.

"Yeah!" Justin agreed earnestly. "And researching with you IS fun! We're Blue Rangers; this is what we do! Oh, and last night after you went to bed I thought of a way we could install a pulse laser in Carlos' left arm! Here, let me show you the schematics," Justin offered, hitting a few keys to bring up a diagram on his screen.

"You're both sure?" he asked, only to receive two firm nods. "Okay, let's see what you've got," he said to Justin, stepping up to look at his screen.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The alert, when it came late that afternoon, was as jarring as ever. Practically leaping out of his seat Billy dashed to the viewing globe.

"This is Captain Herlin," an Eltarian said, "of the Morrigan task force. A dozen UAE vessel have attacked and have taken down the shield. They've just landed a force of Quantrons and the Psycho Rangers on the planet's surface!"

Morrigan was a major source of raw materials for GLL spacecraft construction. Unfortunately the mineral-rich world was located in a narrow area of League space jutting out into UAE territory. Prior to the fall of Triforia it had been considered only a matter of time before the planet would have to be abandoned. With the serious losses the UAE fleets had incurred in the attack on Trey's home, however, holding Morrigan had become a much more militarily viable option. At one of their weekly military meetings Admiral Telan had speculated that with the current state of the UAE's naval force, they would be unwilling to commit the number of ships needed to attack Morrigan.

Without enough ships to battle through the protective task force an attack on the planet was not possible, since naturally Morrigan was shielded. The dawn of this war had seen the installation of planetary shields on a widespread basis for the first time in galactic history. Given the tremendous energy requirements involved, not even a moon-sized forcefield could withstand much orbital bombardment, but then such was not the purpose of these shields. Instead they were meant to guard against enemy teleportation, completely blocking the beams. Thus being able to achieve sufficient navel superiority to bring down a planetary shield was an essential and unavoidable first step in any effort to take an enemy-held world.

"But the miners are safely aboard your ships, aren't they?" Billy asked urgently. That had been the contingency plan outlined by Admiral Telan, if Morrigan was assaulted and its shield breached.

"We rescued the dependents and off-duty miners, but we were unable to get a lock on anyone from the shift currently in the mines. Over three hundred people are still down in those tunnels! A small number of Marines volunteered to teleport down and defend the mine entrance, but against the Psycho Rangers . . ."

The officer's voice trailed off, but he didn't have to say the rest. He and Billy both knew the truth, and so had the Marines when they had made the choice to go down to the planet.

The rest of the Rangers came running into the chamber as Billy asked, "What about reinforcements from other planets?" This was also something he knew the answer to, but he had to ask.

"Per order of the League Council, Admiral Telan is unable to dispatch any additional ships or troops to a Class C or below world unless he can be certain that the attack is not a feint meant to lower our defenses for a strike against a more populated planet," Captain Herlin admitted.

Inwardly Billy cursed. The scourging of Triforia had resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, and the escaping refugees had spread stories of the horrors they'd witnessed to every world of the League. So, too, had tales of suffering come from the peoples of the six worlds recently liberated from UAE control. The end result had been to terrify much of the populace of the GLL, and the Council had responded by confining the military to a more defensive role than seemed wise. Instead of making the most out of the impressive fleet superiority they now possessed, the GLL's ships were, for political reasons, largely confined to an overly cautious garrison duty.

"I'll inform the Rangers, Captain, and get back to you momentarily."

Billy deactivated the viewing globe, erasing the image of the surprised officer, and in a few terse sentences related the situation to his team, which was already morphed and ready. Then he added his own thoughts.

"This is a trap," he asserted with unusual bluntness.

"Did our agent tell you this?" Cestro asked curiously.

"He didn't have to. The Psycho Rangers themselves, attacking a world with almost no ground forces in place to resist them, at a location you can't teleport into or out of? It has to be a trap."

"And we will beat it like we always do," Tideus boasted, and Billy didn't have to see beneath the helmet to know there was a smirk on the Yellow Ranger's face.

"It isn't just us who'll be trapped," T.J. pointed out. "They will be too. This could be our chance to finally finish them!"

"You don't have Trey to aid you anymore," Billy reminded them, swallowing down the lump that rose in his throat at the words. He hesitated for a few seconds before finally saying, "You don't have to go."

These words seemed to startle the Rangers.

"Billy, we cannot abandon hundreds of people to death without at least trying to save them," Delphine said gently. "It is our task to defend the innocent."

The White Rangers' words touched his heart, but Billy's logical mind was still screaming that sending the Rangers to Morrigan would be a terrible mistake. There was no telling what the Psycho Rangers had planned, and facing whatever it was in a place where easy retreat was impossible was far too great a risk.

What other choice was there, though? Delphine was right; every one of the Light Rangers would rather take the risk of going in than stay back and allow hundreds to die in their place. That mindset and morality was why each of them had been chosen to be a Ranger in the first place. Even if he could somehow persuade them to stay here, there was no time for him to do so; the miners were in danger right now!

"Like when they sicced the Pyro-Hydra on us, this'll backfire on them," Aurico cracked and the tension broke as a collective groan arose from nearly the entire team at his horrible pun.

The Red Aquitian Ranger frequently reminded Billy of his favorite comic-book hero, Spider-Man. Like Peter Parker, Aurico had a definite fondness for lame humor and awful puns in battle. Also like the webspinner, he was very good at what he did, fighting with a skill and insight which belied his seemingly light-hearted manner. That was why Delpine had made him the field leader of the team before Billy had ever come to Aquitar. Even his fellow Red Ranger T.J. had come to accept deferring to Aurico in the heat of combat.

"Don't worry, Billy, we'll beat them," Justin reassured him, and as always it slightly threw Billy to see that his Robot Ranger friend was taller than he was while in a morphed state.

"I know you will," Billy responded, smiling with an effort. He switched the viewing globe back on and asked, "Captain, please give a set of coordinates near the mine entrance for the Rangers."

The Aquitan shield would drop automatically with a teleportation beam sent from this console and in less than a minute he had all the codes ready for the roundabout, hop-scotch pattern he intended to employ to get the Light Rangers to Morrigan.

"Teleporting now," Billy said, and his Rangers transformed into columns of differently colored light before shooting up into the heavens.

"And may the Power protect you," he whispered in a fervently heartfelt plea.

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	3. Chapter 3

The instant the Rangers appeared they summoned their weapons, alert for any immediate threat, but none was apparent. Before the attack Morrigan had been inhabited only by a small colony of miners and their families. It was a rocky, barren world with no native life, little water, and a thin though breathable atmosphere. The planet's only real value lay in its mineral wealth, which greatly aided in the construction of new starships.

The Light Rangers had appeared a few feet from Morrigan's sole settlement, nestled in a small valley. There was no sign of life amongst the silent, pre-fabricated hab units, but extending outward from the edge of the town was a wide, flat path cut into the rock. Further in the distance along this road lay the scattered, ruined shells of Quantrons, several of which seemed to be still sparking!

Without a single word needing to be said the Rangers ran along the path. They stayed together as they advanced, although since the Turbo powers' greatest physical enhancement was to swiftness, the Robot Rangers could have easily outdistanced their fellows and made it to the mine entrance first. In a situation such as this one, in which every second lost could mean another innocent life lost, it was tempting to do exactly that, to get there as quickly as they possibly could.

Bitter experience, however, had taught all of them the importance of not getting separated. The ten of them working together had defeated the Psycho Rangers several times. The occasions when they'd been split up and then had to fight had not ended so well.

Leaping over the Quantrons lying across the path they quickly reached its end, a tunnel entrance leading into the innards of the imposing mountain which loomed above the valley.

Now the Quantron wreckage was mixed with fallen Eltarians, Aquitans and Triforians. None stirred, though Delphine and Ashley in particular searched for even the faintest signs of life. It was a vain effort; the Pyscho Rangers seldom left survivors among the soldiers they faced, and this occasion had been no different.

The mine was lined with bright lights set into each wall at fifteen foot intervals, while the surface of the floor was smooth as an undisturbed pool. They continued to move quickly, but more cautiously now. If Billy was right, and he had seldom been wrong, the Psycho Rangers had lured them here as part of a trap. As Billy had said in the past, however, forewarned was forearmed and they had no intention of being taken by surprise.

The tunnel burrowed two hundred yards into the mountain, the corpses of GLL fighting men and women strewn grotesquely along its length. At the end of the tunnel an open pit led down into darkness, the metal grooves set in the sides showing that this was an elevator shaft down to a lower level. Right before the shaft lay a Marine captain, a laser pistol still clenched tightly in his right hand.

His head was missing.

Built into the left wall at about waist height was a control panel, presumably for the elevator. It had clearly been blasted, but lying right beneath it-

"Wow!" Justin breathed, stepping forward to stare at the control panel and the cut open Quantron prone in front of it.

"Careful, Justin!" T.J. snapped.

"Don't worry, I think I know what happened," the android exclaimed excitedly. "See, one of the defenders shot the controls to keep the Psycho Rangers and Quantrons from using the elevator. So they took this Quantron and they sliced away his entire front section," he indicated the exposed inner workings of the bot's head, chest, and torso-"and then they used parts from him to cross-wire the controls, substitute for the damaged circuits, and call up the elevator!"

"We haven't seen any sign of the miners," Aurico observed. "The actual mineworks must be further down."

"Then we could still be in time!" Ashley speculated hopefully.

"Justin, can you summon the elevator?" Delphine asked.

"Yes!" the Blue Turbo Ranger replied definitively. Reaching into the damaged panel he took the exposed end of a short length of wire spliced onto a longer one, and touched it to the other exposed wire visible. In less than five minutes the elevator ascended into view. It was a vast open box with a lighted ceiling and a floor, but no sides. It was large enough to accommodate dozens of people at once, so the Light Rangers had no problem fitting onto it.

"Is there something else we have to do?" Tideus asked curiously as they all stood waiting. Then without warning the platform abruptly began descending into the stygian depths below.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The instant he saw the Rangers disappear into the mouth of the mine on the viewing globe Billy activated the comm and called his wife, as much for the comfort of hearing her voice as for relying the request he knew he had to make.

"Cestria, can you, Healer Verok and the other apprentices on-base make your way to the infirmary in our section?" he asked.

He heard his wife ask Verok, and the assent. "Yes, we can," she confirmed. "Do we need us to teleport there? Which of the Aquitan Rangers is injured, and how badly?"

"None of them so far," Billy admitted, "but I'm afraid they all will be, and I need you there and ready to treat them when they arrive."

He wasn't being pessimistic or betraying a lack of faith in his Rangers. In fact, given the situation, all of the Rangers returning injured or damaged was probably the best case scenario.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

When the platform came to a halt the Rangers stepped out into a tunnel much like the one they had just left, with similar lighting. This tunnel, however, branched off in three separate directions, with no indication of which way to go.

Cursing the fact that they hadn't gotten a map of the complex, Aurico turned to T.J. and the other Robot Rangers.

"Can you hear anything?" he asked.

Focusing purely on his auditory sense T.J. nodded. "There are voices down that way," he said, indicating the tunnel on the left. "They sound like Psycho Rangers".

"Then that is the way we must go," Aurico declared.

Only a short way down the tunnel it opened up into a large, irregularly-shaped cavern, most similar to an elongated oval. Here the signs of mining were clear in the rough, rounded walls and the various gaps and trenches in the ceilings from which ore deposits had been extracted. The only thing smooth was the surface of the floor. Six larger hemisphere lamps were embedded equidistantly around the area, providing sufficient illumination to see the five Psycho Rangers.

They were standing in front of one of the four egresses from this chamber, the passage directly opposite the one whereby the Rangers had entered.

"It's about time!" Red Psycho snarled, his electronic voice echoing in the confined space. "Too bad you cowards weren't here soon enough to save all of the marines we slaughtered."

"Cowards? You're the ones who've barely poked your heads above ground in the last two and a half months. In fact, you still haven't!" Tideus taunted.

Even as the Yellow Aquitan Ranger spoke the Light Rangers were slowly moving forward, splitting up into pairs, Corcus and Carlos drifting far to the right, Ashley and Tideus were next, T.J. and Auricon came solidly down the center line, Delpine and Cassie took the left and Justin and Cestro went out on the far left.

"Meeting you underground seemed appropriate, since we're going to bury you here," Blue Psycho chimed in. "Look around, Rangers. This is going to be your catacomb."

"You're the ones in a grave situation right now," Aurico riposted. "Your masters won't be able to pull you away this time, and you don't seem to have any Quantrons left to back you up."

"The remaining Quantrons are further in, hunting the miners," Red Psycho Ranger spat. "We didn't need their help to deal with you. We have everyone we need right here."

"It sure doesn't look like it," T.J. commented.

Even through the electronic masking, there was a smile in the Red Ranger's tone as he replied, "Look again."

From a circular hole in the ceiling near the left wall, one only a few feet in diameter, a dark form dropped down, his legs barely needing to bend to absorb the impact of his landing.

At first Justin and Cestro's hearts leapt as they beheld the staff-bearing figure, thinking that the reports had been wrong, that Trey had somehow survived and escaped the conquest of Triforia. It took only seconds for them to see that this wasn't the Gold Ranger armor they remembered, but the more stylized and ornate armor of a Psycho Ranger.

Then there was no more time to think at all, because the Gold Psycho Ranger used the short-range, semi-solid teleportation ability which had been Trey's most distinctive power. A black blur smashed its way down the entire Ranger line.

For the Aquitan Rangers, the experience was like being struck head-on by a Delorsal whale; for the Robot Rangers it was more akin to being hit by a Mack truck. Either way, though, all of the Light Rangers were down by the time the gold and black figure rematerialized near Corcus, and the Psycho Rangers were charging forward, howling with bloodlust.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The Black Aquitan Ranger had barely regained his feet when crushing blow to the top of his helmet laid him down again. From the ground he saw Carlos shoot his attacker with the Turbo Thunder Cannon, the point-blank blast sending the Gold Ranger doppelganger reeling back although it did no visible damage. Carlos fired again, but the shot went wild when Green Psycho's horned battle lance smashed into his throat.

Shifting his laser pistol into a dagger, Corcus rose to one knee, only to be sent flying down yet again by a kick directly on the visor of his helmet. An enormous pressure manifested above his windpipe as the Gold Psycho Ranger used the butt of his staff to pin Corcus down by the base of his throat.

He slashed at his attacker's leg with his sword, the hit merely skipping off the Psycho Ranger's armor. He shifted his dagger back to a pistol, and the Gold Ranger used the end of his staff to bat the weapon from his hand before slamming it back to its original position.

A flare of blinding golden brilliance erupted from the end of the staff, not in a sudden flash, but in a steadily brightening glow. Dropping his sword Corcus grabbed the staff to try to shift it even as he became conscious of a terrible feeling of heat.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Energy balls from Psycho Yellow's Sling struck both Ashley and Tideus as they stood, the impact knocking them back on the ground. Ashley rolled as soon as Psycho Yellow's shadow fell over her and the boot meant to stomp her chest instead cracked the cavern floor.

The Yellow Aquitan Ranger fired his pistol point blank while slashing at her with his sword. Psycho Yellow's attention immediately shifted to him and energy bolts leapt from her hands, sending Tideus smoking and rolling along the cavern floor.

Behind Psycho Yellow Ashley got to her knees and applied both of her Star Charger's at maximum to her opponent's back. The Psycho Ranger jerked and dropped as the electrocution briefly incapacitated her, Ashley rising as Psycho Yellow fell. Then a watery scream erupted from behind Ashley, cutting off almost immediately. Since she had never heard a Psycho Ranger scream before, Ashely instinctively whirled around to see which of her teammates was in trouble and how she could help.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The razor-sharp edge of the Pscyho Sword was cutting into T.J. and Aurico's breastplates before they could even stand up. T.J.'s initial parry was met with incredible force, the Red Psycho Ranger steadily pushing T.J.'s blade back down toward him.

Aurico rose up and intervened, bringing his own sword down across Red Psycho's wrists and forcing the evil Ranger to disengage his weapon from his two enemies'. With sword and dagger Aurico struck at the leader of the Psycho Rangers, giving T.J. time to collect himself and join the fight.

Keeping Aurico's blades high, Red Psycho unleashed a powerful side kick to the Aquitan's torso. When Aurico doubled over the Red Psycho Ranger brought his sword down in a swing which gouged a thin slit in the Aquitan's helmet.

Now T.J.'s Lighting sword was thrusting into Red Psycho's side, however, putting the evil Ranger off-balance and buying Aurico time to recover, the two Light Rangers working together like the well-oiled machine one of them actually was.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

An explosion of pain swept through Delphine as a blue energy arrow struck her squarely over the heart.

Cassie counter-attacked with her Turbo Wind Fire Bow, shooting from one knee. Then the Pink Psycho Ranger disappeared, using one of her favorite tricks: invisibility. Cassie wished they were outside in the loose dirt instead of fighting on this rocky floor; there was nothing to betray where-

Cassie stumbled back from the impact of the energy arrow, loosing her own arrow in response, but hitting nothing.

Then Delphine was sliding across the floor, wildly waving her sword and dagger to each side of her as she did so. Cassie saw the dagger blade seem to strike solid air, and put an arrow into Psycho Pink, returning her to visibility.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

When he saw the blade of the double-headed axe falling down toward him Justin could only brace for the blow, but it didn't hit him.

Instead the Psycho Axe sheared through the barrel of first his right Turbo Blaster, then his left, destroying both weapons before the prone Blue Turbo Ranger could even pull the triggers.

Hurling the useless pieces he held up at his attacker, Justin summoned his Turbo Blade. Though more than willing to oppose any of the Psycho Rangers, he held a special grudge against the Blue one. It was only the Blue Psycho Ranger who insisted on calling him a second-rate robot replacement, an inferior copy of the original, virtually every time they met. So he wasn't the first Justin; he had all of Justin's thoughts and memories, right up until shortly past Justin's thirteenth birthday. He often wished that they could somehow make it to Earth and find Justin; he was sure that together the two of them could take down this Blue abomination with no problem.

Twisting his waist the Blue Psycho Ranger brought his axe down across the approaching Cestro's chest, immediately went back to attack Justin, but the latter had rolled away and regained his feet. With their foe whipsawed between them both Light Rangers lunged forward as the Blue Pscyho Ranger shouted "Psycho Spin!"

Justin and Cestro were each struck multiple times by the whirling Psycho Axe, flung to the ground with their armor charred and smoking.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

In horror-stricken disbelief Ashely saw the Gold Psycho Ranger's staff, glowing at one end, burn its way through the Black Aquitan Ranger's armor, and then his neck.

Quiet Corcus' telepathic death-scream struck the remaining Aquitan Rangers even harder than the Gold Psycho Ranger had. There was no mistaking the agony, the despair, as their friend perished.

Even as Ashley was struggling to process what she had just seen the Gold Psycho Ranger came up behind Carlos, who was locked in battle with Pscyho Green, and laid his staff across Carlos' neck, pulling back on it with all of his undoubtedly incredible strength.

Though he had no need to breath, Carlos's head was still wrenched backwards and Pscyho Green was able to slam the horned tip of his lance into Carlos' chest again and again, striking the same spot each time.

Ashley stepped forward to help when an energy burst to her back sent her down to her knees. She could hear Tideus shout as he attacked the Yellow Psycho Ranger, but most of her attention was focused on the Green Psycho Ranger driving his lance into Carlos' chest, ripping the head first to the left, then to the right, shredding Carlos' delicate internal circuitry.

Two of her teammates, her _family_, were gone, and two Psycho Rangers who had killed them were now free to kill the rest. The eight of them remaining could not hope to stand against six Psycho Rangers, and they couldn't teleport out either. All of this went through Ashley's processor in an instant and only one course of action presented itself to her.

Her helmet disappeared in a flash of yellow and Ashley screamed. Her sonic scream blew all three of those before her off their feet, their armor straining to withstand a force powerful enough to cut through solid steel.

Along with the tightly-focused sonic attack waves, Ashley's sonic scream machinery also emitted an enormous level of non-destructive noise outward in every direction. Billy had constructed the implant so that it would send a signal an instant before it was employed, shutting off the other Light Rangers' auditory sense, making their helmets go soundproof.

Blue Psycho had constructed a similar defense for the Psycho Rangers, designed to shut off their ability to hear sound at a certain decibel level. Unfortunately, this would only take effect a second after hearing the noise, while the Light Rangers would be shielded a second before the noise. Thus, in this defined space, with the noise echoing off every wall, the Psycho Rangers were partially deafened and disoriented before their protection kicked in.

Furthermore even the special toughened glass the light hemispheres were constructed out of was not able to withstand this kind of stress. They began shattering, and as they were breaking Ashley turned her head upward, her sonic scream blasting into the rock ceiling and spreading ominous cracks outward from its point of impact toward the other holes in the roof.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

All of the Rangers had a thermal vision option, but here it did surprisingly little good. The Rangers' armor was designed to mask their heat signatures, and of course the chunks of the ceiling which were beginning to fall emitted no heat to make them visible, though their presence was certainly felt. Nor could the Rangers rely on sound to navigate in the darkness, not with Ashley's sonic scream cutting everyone off completely from that sense.

The Light Rangers did hold several advantages over their opposition here, however. The Aquitan telepathy allowed Aurico's frantic mental shout of "Withdraw! Withdraw!" to be communicated to all of the surviving Aquitan Rangers at once, and it was soon passed on to the Robot Rangers via radio. Furthermore, the mouth of the tunnel they had come through was still lit, giving them a clear point to head towards in the midst of the enveloping darkness. Finally, they had not been assaulted by a sudden blast of sound, nor did they have the Red Psycho Ranger distracting them through his radio-conveyed scream of "The machine bitch'll bury us all! KILL HER!"

For all of these reasons, the remaining Light Rangers save Ashley were able to break away from their battles and make for their exit without the Psycho Rangers stopping them.

In fact the Psycho Rangers were concentrating on the single thermal signature which shone brightly in the cavern: Ashley's exposed head. This extended use of her sonic scream was taking a great deal of energy, some of which was being given off as heat. For that reason the Gold Psycho Ranger was able to approach and use his staff to smash her head from her shoulders. Thrusting his staff down into the exposed neck cavity, he then unleashed an eruption of power so great it literally blew the decapitated Robot Ranger apart.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Aurico and T.J. were the first through the tunnel mouth, not because they wanted to be, but because they were closest and both knew the Light Rangers could not afford to be caught up in a bottleneck at the entrance.

Tideus was next, with Cassie and Delphine right on his heels. Justin and Cestro were last, leaving the cavern only seconds before Ashley met her end. They were sprinting toward the elevator when Cestro's psychic cry froze the Aquitan Rangers. They and the Robot Rangers looked back to see Cestro facedown, the Blue Psycho Ranger plunging his axe into the Aquitan.

Justin charged back, putting all of his vastly enhanced strength into a punch which sent the Blue Psycho Ranger skidding down the corridor on his back.

The tunnel was shaking now from the impact of the falling ceiling pieces, two of which had already struck Psycho Rangers within the cavern. Scooping up Cestro in his arms Justin saw the Gold Psycho Ranger emerge into the light and without hesitation he turned and ran.

He couldn't outrun the Gold Psycho Ranger, though, not with the latter's means of movement. Psycho Gold inexplicably wasted a few seconds kneeling at the fallen Blue Psycho Ranger's side; then he was flashing down the corridor, the blur smashing into Justin from behind.

The instant the Gold Ranger completely rematerialized, however, a waiting T.J. shot him with the full force of the android's built-in plasma blasters. Not even this Psycho Ranger could shrug off a hit of that magnitude. He went down himself, the exterior of his armor blackened beyond its normal shade.

As Justin got up and dashed past him with Cestro, T.J. prepared to hit the Gold Psycho Ranger again, but over his radio comm Aurico shouted "Move, now!"

T.J. ran as well, even as the Red Psycho Ranger joined the risen Blue Psycho Ranger.

A dark, sticky fluid was staining Justin's white gloves as he made the elevator platform. A first he though he had sprung a leak, but then he realized the substance wasn't any kind of internal lubricant; it was Aquitan blood, pouring out of the wound on Cestro's back.

"Cestro," he whispered, his world shrinking to just the two of them.

"Thanks-thanks for coming back for me," Cestro stammered through their comm link.

"Just hold on!" Justin urged, shifting his hands to cover the wound. "Hold on!"

The platform began to ascend then, and unable to reach the button with Cestro in his arms, Justin came close to panicking.

At that instant T.J. and Aurico burst out of the tunnel entrance, sprinting toward the rising platform. In almost perfect unison the two leapt and slid aboard on their chests, and just before the elevator controls on the wall were out of sight Delphine blasted them with her pistol.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

He'd been staring intently at the entrance to the mines since he'd called Cestria, hoping, praying, that at any moment the Rangers would lead a jubilant throng of miners out of that hole in the ground, the war effectively won through the deaths of the Psycho Rangers.

Every minute that didn't happen Billy's fear worsened, his brilliant mind struggling to come up with a single course of actions which could possibly save a GLL which had lost its Rangers.

There! There they were! All . . . seven?

Even as Delphine's frantic call of "Code Red! Code Red!" was coming over the speakers Billy was teleporting them straight to the infirmary.

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	4. Chapter 4

The appearance of the remaining Light Rangers sent the infirmary into instant chaos, with Justin holding out the badly bleeding Cestro beseechingly as everyone spoke at once.

"Quiet!" Healer Verok insisted, both verbally and psychically. "Put Cestro on the nearest table. Any other Aquitan who is seriously injured, lie down on another table. Everyone else, out!"

Even as Justin gently set Cestro down, Cestria and the other apprentices were doing as they'd been trained, mentally projecting soothing calm to the consciousness of the badly wounded hero.

Delphine and the ambulatory Rangers exited the infirmary just in time to meet the figure racing down the hall toward them.

Billy skidded to a stop, his eyes taking in the Rangers, all of those who were there.

"What happened to the others?" he asked urgently.

No one answered him. No one wanted to be the one to say it.

"What happened, damn it?" Billy shouted, in an agony of dread and frustration.

"Corcus, Ashley, and Carlos were slain," Delphine confessed, her head bowed. "Cestro was gravely wounded."

"How?" Billy gasped. "What did they have waiting for you, what did they do?"

"They had a Gold Psycho Ranger," T.J. told their mentor, his voice rough and harsh. "We couldn't-we couldn't fight him and the other Psycho Rangers."

A _Gold_ Psycho Ranger? Someone with Trey's powers, augmented to the Psycho level? It was worse than even he had feared.

How had this slipped past them? How had they been taken by surprise? If there was suddenly a Gold Psycho Ranger on the Dark Fortress that was sure as hell something their source should have reported!

He'd look into that later. Right now he had to concentrate on finding out if there was anything he could possibly do to somehow mitigate this disaster.

"What happened? Tell me," Billy ordered. The Rangers before him were clearly devastated and he didn't want to force them to relive the nightmare they'd just been through, but he had to have the information, and he had to have it now.

In turns they related briefly what had transpired, Billy listening intently in silence until Tideus mentioned how Delphine had blasted the lower level lift controls as they were going up.

"She hit them? You're sure?" Billy questioned.

"Yes, I saw them spark when the laser bolt impacted," Tideus confirmed.

"But they can probably jury-rig it the same way they did the upper level control," Justin put in.

Without bothering to reply Billy whirled and ran for the Command Chamber. As soon as he reached the viewing globe he used it to contact Admiral Telan. As the Eltarian's face appeared within the globe, Billy told him, "Admiral, we have a Supernova level situation on Morrigan."

To the Admiral's credit, he was able to speak after only a few seconds. In GLL military parlance, a "Supernova" level situation meant one which could potentially determine the outcome of the war.

"What is happening there?"

"The Light Rangers fought a new Psycho Ranger along with the others, a _Gold_ Pyscho Ranger," Billy emphasized. "Three of the Light Rangers were killed and a fourth wounded, but they managed to temporarily trap the Psychos in the mines. Admiral, you have to send enough ships to Morrigan to retake the space around the planet and then you need to orbitally bombard that mountain until it's nothing but a field of magma."

"The Psychos can't communicate or teleport from where they are now," Billy explained, speaking faster now, pushing his case. "This is our chance to finish them once and for all, to catch them in their own trap! They've just crippled our only real defense against them. If we don't seize this opportunity . . ."

"I agree, but I'll need to get emergency authorization from the Council before I can send any ships from our major worlds," Admire Telan reminded Billy gravely.

"When you speak to them tell the Council that three of the Light Rangers are already dead, and if they want to ensure the rest won't soon follow, they need to let you act now!" Billy ground out furiously.

Admiral Telan's image winked out and Billy turned to see six Light Rangers standing in the doorway, their helmets off, silently watching and listening.

"I-I'm sorry," he apologized. "I had to speak with Admiral Telan. He needs to act now, before the chance slips away."

"Billy, there might still be miners alive down there," Delphine pointed out.

"For how much longer?" Billy burst out. "If the Quantrons don't get them, the Psycho Rangers will. If I was in their place I'd want a quick death instead!"

Billy longed to pull what he'd said back as soon as he'd said it. Reminding the Rangers of the innocents whose lives were forfeit because of their failure was the last thing he should be doing right now. It was like pouring salt into an open wound, especially when the Light Rangers had lost three of their own trying to save the miners. He could see the flinch from his harsh words among Aquitan and android alike. Aurico put a hand to Delphine's shoulder as the White Ranger bowed her head and turned to go. The others followed, save Justin who walked toward Billy.

"You're really going to let all those miners die?" he asked bluntly.

"Justin, we can't save them," Billy insisted in a softer voice. "If we strike now, though, we can make sure the Psycho Rangers will never hurt anyone else again. We can make Corcus' sacrifice mean something!"

He didn't mention Ashley and Carlos, since they could essentially be brought back as soon as their replacement forms were finished. For the Aquitan, however, no such resurrection was possible. His loss was permanent.

"He died trying to save other people. That already means something," Justin concluded before turning and also leaving the room.

Billy almost went after his young friend, but he didn't. Instead he set the viewing globe to the space around Morrigan and waited. Each second seemed to drag by as he stared at the nine functioning UAE vessels still orbiting the mining world. He waited, hoped and prayed for the GLL forces to arrive, to slag first the enemy ships and then the whole planet itself if necessary.

Five minutes passed . . . ten . . . fifteen . . . there! On the viewing globe the images of dozens of GLL vessels appeared, led by the _Spirit of Zordon_, Admiral Telan's Dreadnaught flagship.

Immediately eight of the UAE ships shifted into a defensive configuration while the ninth rapidly retreated from the plane, heading toward deep space. The ninth ship was _The Envenomed Blade_, the usual transport of the Psycho Rangers.

Against the vastly superior numbers and firepower facing them the remaining UAE ships had no real chance. One after another they were destroyed, while several of the GLL vessels ignored the space battle in order to train their weapons on the planet below. The first salvo had just slammed into the mountain when six teleport beams leapt up from the planet's surface, merging with _The Envenomed Blade. _An instant later the ship was gone.

"No! NO!" Billy screamed, slamming his clenched fists down on frame which held the viewing globe. They were too late.

The two remaining United Alliance of Evil ships came about in an attempt to flee, but neither even completed its turn before being torn apart by the fire from the vengeful GLL fleet.

The UAE had lost eleven ships in the assault on Morrigan, an especially grievous blow to their already weakened naval forces. Yet the Galactic League of Light had lost far more in this battle. In addition to the three defending ships the UAE had blown up, they'd lost all of the Marines who'd volunteered to go down to the planet's surface, probably all of the miners on duty, and worst of all, they'd lost three Light Rangers, three champions of the GLL, with one more critically wounded. The overall tide of the war had shifted, and the sole saving graces were the survival of most of the Light Rangers and the Galactic League of Light's considerable naval superiority. The latter would protect many worlds, but on those planets which the Psycho Rangers would be able to attack there was no longer enough of the former left to counter them.

Especially not with the addition of a Gold Psycho Ranger to the other side.

The door to the chamber slid open and Billy looked up, expecting to see his wife, or Justin. Instead Healer Verok entered the room, her expression grave.

"We did everything we could, but there was too much damage," she explained.

For a moment he simply stared at her, before the meaning of her words struck home.

Cestro was gone too.

"I should tell the others," Billy announced, starting forward, but Verok held up a hand.

"Apprentice Cestria has already gone to inform the White Ranger. As you know she served as an Aquitan Ranger once, and she wanted to be the one to break the news to her former team leader herself."

That was his wife. He hadn't even thought about how she must be taking this, first losing Corcus and then being unable to save Cestro. Yet she had still chosen to go herself to tell Delphine, to offer what support and comfort she could to her best friend even while her own heart was breaking.

At her side was where he belonged now. At the moment there was nothing left for him to do here.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

With the exceptions of the Gold and Green Psycho Rangers, the entire team was in an exceptionally foul mood when they rematerialized aboard _The Envenomed Blade_. Yes, they'd won the battle, but that had never been in doubt. Their goal had been to annihilate their enemies, and there they had fallen far short.

"If you had taken out that Yellow droid in time we could have had them!" the Red Psycho Ranger snarled at his own Yellow comrade, punctuating his statement by seizing her shoulders and flinging her into the nearest bulkhead. Given weight of the rocks from the ceiling which had struck her she was in no condition to continue fighting, so she chose to strike back verbally rather than physically.

"If our Green and Gold Rangers hadn't taken so long to deal with their two opponents I could have taken her out!" Tanya spat back, her Psycho Sling appearing in the right hand, almost concealed at her side.

"You two couldn't have killed either of your targets faster?" Tommy demanded aggressively of Adam and Fred. "Especially you!" he accused their newest member. "I guess you overestimated your own power," he goaded, leading Fred to step forward, but from behind Justin put a hand to his shoulder.

Had he still possessed his original neural net, the teenage genius reflected bitterly, he would probably already be locked in combat with Tommy himself instead of working to hold his friend back. What was supposed to be their final battle with the Light Rangers had instead turned into an infuriating succession of missed opportunities.

First the Ashley droid's unexpected action had nearly buried them all alive and had given the remaining Light Rangers a chance to escape. Then his own robotic clone had knocked him away before he could finish the Blue Aquitan Ranger. Even after the Light Rangers had fled, however, he and Fred could have killed Tommy at the elevator stop if Adam hadn't arrived at that moment. Why couldn't part of the ceiling have fallen on him, as it did on Kat and Tanya?

Finally he'd had to be the voice of reason, strongly suggesting that they vacate the complex rather than finding and slaying whatever miners the Quantrons hadn't overcome yet.

That Tommy had yielded on that point was a mixed blessing. With the Light Rangers not yet dispatched Justin couldn't afford to lose any more than one of his teammates, but the image of Tommy buried and incinerated by the orbital barrage he'd been sure was coming had been sweet indeed.

As it was they had barely managed to repair the elevator controls and make it out in time. If they'd stayed just a few minutes longer . . .

"Princess Astronema is requesting your report, Red Psycho Ranger," a Quantron voice crackled over the ship's internal comm. Tommy whirled and headed for the bridge, and the other Psycho Rangers began to drift away from the wardroom.

Justin withdrew to his own personal chamber, Fred following in his wake. "I'm trying not to challenge him, like you said, but he's making it pretty hard," the Gold Psycho Ranger confided. "I killed two of those Rangers, helped kill another, and he's going after _me_?!" Fred demanded indignantly.

"I told you he'd be jealous of your power," Justin put in. "We could have butchered him down there at the elevator if Adam hadn't been so quick to follow."

"Well, let's hope another chance comes along soon, because if he really does attack me I'm not taking a dive."

Of course not. Fred was passionate, committed, going all in at whatever he did. Deliberately losing was contrary not only to his Psycho pride, but to his very nature!

Justin couldn't realistically ask that of him; he'd been lucky enough that Fred hadn't torn his arm off yesterday, when he'd prevented a fight between him and Tommy.

After _The Envenomed Blade _docked at the Dark Fortress the Psycho Rangers split up. Once he'd made sure the proper fabric had been produced for Fred's cabin on the ship Justin headed to his own room. He'd had the foresight to bring his concubines with him on the Quantron troop transport and a little attention from them would surely help his mood.

For that matter Tommy was undoubtedly spending time with his sole concubine right now. That was usually what he did after a disappointment, and as far as Justin knew she hadn't tried again to kill him for months now. A pity, really, but given the punishment he'd meted out in response to her past attempts he could hardly blame her for giving up.

"Blue Psycho Ranger, report to the strategy room," Astronema's voice ordered over his helmet comm.

What? What now? Had Tommy tried to blame this on him somehow? With a grinding of his teeth Justin reversed course, entering the main room only to find it empty. Oddly, the door remained open behind him for at least two seconds after it should have closed; a fault in the circuitry, most likely, and something for a Quantron to fix, but if he had time later Justin might attend to it himself. Fixing the elevator controls had actually been fun and correcting the door mechanism would be a similarly simple and enjoyable electronic task.

As he looked around, waiting for Astronema to arrive, he spotted through the large viewing window the head of the UAE, the Grand Monarch of Evil, Dark Specter himself!

Since his draining of Zordon's energy you could almost feel the sheer power radiating from the ruler's rocky, thirty foot tall humanoid form, like the emissions of a white dwarf star. As always his appearance strongly reminded Justin of Maligore, but he had never dared ask if the two had been related; there was absolutely no sense in stirring up that possible hornet's nest, given what he and the other Psycho Rangers had done to Divatox's intended fiancée while they'd still been fighting on the wrong side.

The tall, muscular seventeen year-old immediately fell to one knee and bowed his head before his supreme sovereign.

"Rise," Dark Specter instructed and doing so the Blue Psycho Ranger stood at attention.

"More than half of the Light Rangers survive," Dark Specter noted. "I am disappointed."

A chill ran down Justin's spine. "We slew three of them, and next time we will get them all!" he promised.

"Perhaps, but for now you have a different task to complete," Dark Specter informed him, sparking his servant's curiosity.

"The United Alliance's fleet is insufficient to press the assault, but this problem can be remedied sooner than the fools who oppose me dream. Behold!"

A pulse of red energy came from Dark Specter's right claw, separating into several pieces and forming an image in the space before the window of what appeared to be a six planet solar system. He indicated the fourth planet in the system.

"This is Horath, capital of the empire of Prince Gasket. Since fleeing Earth five years ago Gasket has concentrated on building up his fleet of Gear Ships and Quadra Fighters, to protect himself from any strike by his father. His navy added to our own would give us a quarter more ships than our enemies possess!"

Justin was familiar with Prince Gasket only by reputation. His efforts to minimize and internalize the Psycho Ranger neural net had led him to work closely for a time with the robotic scientists of the Machine Empire. There he had learned that King Mondo's first-constructed son had not been Prince Sprocket, but a Prince Gasket.

Then-Crown Prince Gasket had been disowned hundreds of years ago, when in a Romeo and Juliet-style twist, he had fallen in love with Archerina, the robot daughter of King Mondo's mortal enemy King Aradon. The two had fled from their parents and established their own small, but substantial empire. Aside from an attempted return when King Mondo had been believed destroyed during the time of the Zeo Rangers, the duo had remained apart from the UAE, a neutral party in the current war.

"And King Mondo has agreed to this?" Justin asked hopefully.

"No. You must arrange a reconciliation between father and son, and persuade Gasket to commit his forces to the UAE."

W-what?! How the hell was he supposed to accomplish that?! The two had been estranged for nearly half a millenia! Even after the Machine Empire had ground King Aradon to scrap metal, King Mondo had refused to accept his traitorous son's marriage.

Couldn't Dark Specter simply order King Mondo to welcome his son back? Yet with the loss of Divatox the United Alliance of Evil had also lost a large portion of its ships and soldiers. In fact the Machine Empire comprised the bulk of their remaining forces. Dark Specter, probably the single most powerful being in the galaxy, could indeed command, but if the stubborn mechanical monarch defied him and Dark Specter was forced to destroy him then the consequences for the United Alliance of Evil would be catastrophic.

By the same token, the UAE could not threaten Prince Gasket into compliance, not with the number of ships he currently possessed.

So he was being given the impossible task of playing peacemaker and recruiter both!

"My lord, how?" he asked in genuine bewilderment.

"You will find a way," Dark Specter assured him. "Are you not among the most intelligent of humans? You were able to infiltrate and destroy the Ranger-led Earth resistance and at the same time identify a suitable candidate for the Gold Psycho Ranger powers. I have faith in you, my Blue Psycho Ranger. Why else would I let you continue to keep your altered neural net?"

The threat in the final question was unmistakable and beneath his helmet Justin's eyes widened in fear. He had to find a way to do this, or Dark Specter would force him to return to his old neural net. He would once more be a raging psychopath, little better than a wild animal.

"Yes, my lord," Justin bowed again, grateful that his helmet concealed his hate-filled expression. He heard the door behind him open and Dark Specter resumed speaking.

"Darkonda has spent the last month and a half scouting Prince Gasket's empire. He will accompany and assist you in your mission."

Wonderful, Justin thought sourly, turning to glare through his visor at the smirking, monstrous mercenary. There no love lost between a Psycho Ranger and any other being; the Psycho Rangers' neural nets ensured they were no longer capable of love. There was not even any liking lost between the Justin and Darkonda, though.

Yes, Darkonda had been responsible for bringing him here in the first place, but he had done so by contemptuously subduing Justin in battle, sneering at the fourteen year-old as he battered the latter into unconsciousness.

They had worked well together as a team to capture the other future Psycho Rangers, but it had been an alliance of necessity, not one of choice. Over the past two years Justin's dislike of the scheming, sinister creature had only increased, and now he had to work with _Darkonda_ on this insane assignment?

"But my lord, am I not needed here to face the Light Rangers?" he asked in a final desperate attempt to evade this duty.

"Three of the Light Rangers are gone. The other Psychos will deal with them if they show their faces. I doubt that will occur before you return. Work quickly, my Ranger; we must strike soon."

"My ship awaits," Darkonda offered in a snide voice.

Bowing one final time, Justin followed Darkonda out into the hall and towards the hangar bay. As when he had entered, the door held itself open for a couple of seconds too long, but there was certainly no time to correct that malfunction now. He had an impossible mission to complete, on pain of literally losing his mind.

He had thought it would be enough to replace Tommy and seize leadership of the Psycho Rangers. Now he knew he'd been wrong. He could not let anyone continue to hold power over him; he would not allow his fate to rest in the hands of another. He didn't just need to get rid of Tommy; he needed to dispose of Princess Astronema too, and even-even Dark Specter himself!

Justin Stewart, Grand Monarch of Evil! That was his true goal now, and he would not stop until he had achieved it.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Dark Specter did indeed have confidence in his Blue Psycho Ranger, especially with the incentive he'd given his servant to succeed. Once Prince Gasket's forces were aligned with him they would be able to crush the Galactic League of Light in a matter of months!

Then he could turn his attention to the true threat.

His suspicions had first been kindled shortly after the capture of Divatox and the mass desertion which had followed it. His additional requests for ships and troops had been met with an explanation of the need to fight a simmering rebellion, to crush it before it gained widespread support.

Given the iron fist with which this associate member of the UAE ruled, however, such an excuse rang hollow indeed.

It could be that he simply wanted to avoid incurring any losses in this conflict. Such would be in keeping with his thoughtful, intelligent nature, but Dark Specter suspected a far more dangerous motive. This suspicion had only grown in the wake of two requests for his daughter to visit him, both of which Dark Specter had denied. No, he would not be surrendering _that_ little point of leverage! If Master Vile wanted this galaxy, he would have to sacrifice his daughter's life to take it.

The problem was that the ancient, extremely powerful sorcerer might well be willing to make that sacrifice. He had already ruled the M-51 galaxy for four thousand years and counting; he had been denied further expansion of his rule for a very long time, and his military was undeniably greater than that of the entire UAE.

True, Dark Specter was more personally powerful thanks to his siphoning of Zordon's essence, but the gap between them was still worryingly small, smaller than it was between Dark Specter and any other known entity in existence.

Perhaps the best course of action would be to secretly send the Psycho Rangers to assassinate Master Vile. With the addition of the Gold Psycho Ranger they might actually be able to slay the galactic ruler, though he doubted any of them would survive the effort. With Master Vile dead rule of the M-51 galaxy would fall to Rito, and that fool was no threat. He might even be able to displace Rito with his sister, and Rita Repulsa would know better than to disobey him in anything.

Yes, the Grand Monarch of Evil mused as the forcefield around the Dark Fortress dropped and Darkonda's small ship sped out of the hangar bay. He would have to seriously consider this.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Billy had never attended an Aquitan funeral before. Though the words and form differed, the emotions were the same as at a human funeral, and there was a cathartic release when Corcus and Cestro's services finally concluded.

Given his choice he would have left his Rangers alone in their grief, but there was no choice. The remaining six Rangers could never hope to stand against the six Psycho Rangers. So there was really only one option left, one he'd hoped he would never have to consider.

After the funerals he called them all to the Power Chamber.

"I know that even now, you're not going to give up," he told them, looking from face to face. "Even after everything you've lost, you'll fight to your last to protect the people of the Galactic League of Light."

He was rewarded with nods, solemn looks of agreement. No one contradicted him.

"As you are, however, you can't stop the Psycho Rangers. They're too powerful, especially with the new addition to their ranks."

He went on, trying to ignore the looks of anger, of shame.

"Before this war even began I came up with a number of possibilities. Hail Mary plays, longshots to use if the time came when they were the only chances we had left."

He stopped, took a deep breath, and continued.

"There is only one of them which could realistically help us now. I call it the Omega option. Beyond the Hyperion constellation is a planet where you could gain the power to stand up to the Psycho Rangers."

Now the anger and shame was fading, replaced by dawning looks of hope.

"If you're willing to go, there's already a ship prepared to take you there."

"Why would we take a ship? Why wouldn't we just teleport?" Justin asked.

"Because teleportation beams can be detected and tracked. If you decide to go for this, the UAE must NOT know about it until it's too late for them to stop you."

"Hold on, if this power is so great, then why haven't you sent us after it before?" Tideus wanted to know.

"Because, with one exception, every group of Rangers who has ever tried to obtain this power has died in the attempt. I couldn't put you at that kind of risk, not unless there was no other hope left."

"And you think we can make it?" T.J. questioned.

"I don't know," Billy confessed brokenly, "but I don't see any other option."

Delphine looked around at the remainder of her team. "Who wishes to undertake a quest for this power?" she asked. One by one the Rangers gave their assent and once all had spoken their leader turned back to Billy.

"It is decided. Where must we go?"

"To a little planet called Phaedos."

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	5. Chapter 5

As they walked toward the primary hanger Justin opened up a private comm channel with Fred. He also switched on the muffling ability of his helmet, ensuring that this conversation would not be overheard by Darkonda.

"Fred? Are you there?" he asked.

"Justin! What's up?" his friend's voice questioned.

"Dark Specter is sending me out to mend the family rift in the Royal House of Gadgetry and win the allegiance of Prince Gasket and his followers," the brown-haired teen related in a bleak tone, the enormity of the task before him still sinking in. "Gasket rules a neutral empire, and with his ships added to our force we can resume the offensive and finally finish this war."

A low whistle greeted his announcement. "That's a big job! What's the plan?"

"There isn't one," the Blue Psycho Ranger admitted bitterly.

"You don't have a plan?!"

"I wasn't given one; our supreme leader just told me to do it."

Four heartbeats of silence ensued, during which Darkonda and the Blue Psycho Ranger entered the hangar bay, Darkonda motioning to his small, sleek vessel. At his approach a ramp lowered in the rear of the ship.

"I could go with you," Fred's voice offered. "I bet together we could come up with something."

"No, he already said you and the other Psycho Rangers have to stay here, in case the Light Rangers try something," Justin told him regretfully as he boarded the ship. He'd far rather be traveling and working with Fred, given the choice, but he hadn't been given a choice, had he? That was why he couldn't continue to allow others to hold authority over him, not for any longer than he had to.

"He teamed me up with Darkonda, and I'm in his ship now," Justin explained sourly as the vessel lifted off and soared out the open bay door. "We'll be out of radio range soon, but I wanted to let you to know where I was, and to warn you not to let Tommy provoke you! I'm not sure how long this will take, but when I get back we'll deal with Tommy. Don't try anything alone!"

The seventeen year-old's main source of apprehension was his own mission, but fear for Fred occupied the secondary place. He couldn't do anything to protect Fred while he was gone; he could only counsel the Gold Psycho Ranger to be patient. If a confrontation erupted in his absence, even if Fred won, there was no way to know for sure what Dark Specter's reaction would be. Perhaps he would promote Fred to the new leader of the team. Or perhaps he would remove the Gold Psycho Ranger powers and then kill Fred.

The prospect sent an unfamiliar pang through the teenager. He couldn't afford to lose his most powerful ally, but more than that, he didn't _want_ Fred to die! He wanted the other adolescent to be safe and happy. It was the strongest positive feeling he'd felt for another being since receiving his modified neural net, even stronger than the affection which had led him to spare his father.

"I'll try," Fred promised.

"Do or do not," Justin automatically shot back. "There is no try."

"Yes, Yoda," Fred solemnly answered.

Both boys cracked up and were still laughing when the distance grew too great for any further conversation.

Justin settled into the co-pilot's chair beside Darkonda, feeling lighter than he had since being given this terrible mission. Neither of his fears had been fully assuaged, but his and Fred's final words were a good way to part from his only friend.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The six surviving Light Rangers were ready for departure. Bags had been packed, supplies had been gathered, Aquitan parents had been bid farewell, and now the six of them stood almost at attention before Billy, in the hangar containing the civilian merchant ship which would be used to take them to Phaedos. Their only remaining task was to say good-bye to their mentor.

"Thank you all," Billy told the six, each of whom was morphed, with their helmets tucked under their right arms. "For what you've done already the entire Galactic League owes you a debt of gratitude it can never repay. No one could have blamed you if you'd decided not to go for this, to instead wait and hope something else would come along, some other solution. But you didn't, because that's who you are. You're the ones who step up and try to make things right, the ones who willingly risk your own existence for the good of others. You're heroes, and it's been my privilege to know each and every one of you."

Billy stepped forward and to his right, stopping before Tideus.

"Try to keep how awesome you are in check," he joked. "It's bad for team unity to keep showing up your fellow Rangers."

Tideus grinned and two clasped hands.

Billy moved down to Cassie.

"Keep everyone's spirits up."

"That was Ashley's job," Cassie replied, a tremble in her voice.

"I know you can do it until she gets back. Sing for them; hearing you sing always raises my spirits."

Billy hugged her, a gesture she returned with her left arm, before stepping over to Delphine.

"You were the leader of the Aquitan Rangers when I first met you, and you still are. That's not just a coincidence or simple inertia; it's because you deserve to be the leader."

When Delpine dropped her eyes Billy put his right hand under her chin and gently tilted it up to face him.

"You do," he insisted in answer to her unspoken doubt, to the guilt and feelings of responsibility she carried with her for the sudden loss of four of her teammates. "Don't ever forget that."

After embracing his wife's best friend he moved to stand before Justin, Blue Robot Ranger, lab assistant, surrogate little brother and son.

"You've been a big help to me in the lab, Justin. You're half the reason the Robot Rangers' upgrades even exist. I hope once the war is won you'll still help me out?" he questioned through the lump in his throat.

"Course I will!" the apparent thirteen year-old replied indignantly, and Billy dropped to one knee to hug the android tight.

"Billy!" Justin hissed in embarrassment, his cheeks visibly reddening as his helmet tumbled out of his grasp and went clattering to the deck. "Not in front of everybody!"

Ignoring the squirming, knowing Justin could have easily thrown him off if the Ranger had truly wanted to, Billy rose and slid down to stand halfway between Aurico and T.J.

"Keep them safe. I know if anyone can do that, it's the two of you," Billy quietly told them.

T.J. nodded and promised, "We will," while Aurico simply held out his arms with a frown on his face.

"What, no hug for me?" he mourned pitifully.

Laughing Billy embraced Aurico before receiving a bone-crushing arm clasp from T.J. As he retreated Delphine unexpectedly took a step forward.

"We want to thank you as well, Billy, for all that you have done for us," she announced, continuing to speak right through the protests Billy attempted to voice. "You and Cestria helped to form the Galactic League of Light. You cut the Psycho Rangers' power in half when you arrived on Eltar, and then you rebuilt the Robot Rangers. You brought us together as one team and have done your best to guide us ever since. What hope the free peoples of this galaxy have has come as a result of your actions. Even this quest we are going on has begun because of your knowledge. No one could ever replace Zordon, it is true, but know that you have come as close as any life form could hope."

As one the Rangers donned their helmets, saluted Billy and turned to board the ship. Billy watched as it lifted into the upper airlock before passing into the ocean surrounding the city and shooting upward.

Then his wife was at his side, her left arm around his shoulders. As he turned to her the tears finally began to spill from his eyes.

"I-I don't know if I've sent them to their deaths," he confessed, the fear and doubt he'd been holding back in front of the Rangers' sake at last breaking free.

Cestria held her husband as they walked back toward their quarters, cursing the fates which had placed such a terribly crushing burden of responsibility upon his shoulders. He didn't deserve this! This was Zordon's role, not his. The two of them should have been able to live together in quiet happiness, their time with the Rangers nothing more than a treasured memory of the past. Instead her husband was striving with all of his might to "make up" for an exceedingly generous gift he'd given to his former teammates, and slowly consuming himself in the process.

As they entered their quarters Cestria wondered if perhaps now Billy might be able to rest, to catch up on the sleep he'd been missing for so long.

Then a gentle chime sounded, and an electronic voice intoned, "Billy, there is a message for you in the Power Chamber."

Turning in her arms Billy kissed her, a demonstration of his love for her. Then the door reopened and he was gone.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The journey to Horath was a long one, and taking it with Darkonda only served to make it seem that much longer.

At the moment he was filling Justin in on what he had learned from the time he'd spent scouting out Prince Gasket's realm, but he wouldn't be Darkonda if that was all he was saying.

"Once I was in the form of a Cog I was able to map the layout of his palace," the alien mercenary explained, alluding to his shape-shifting ability, an admittedly invaluable power for any spy. "It's larger than the Dark Fortress and more heavily garrisoned. The map is in the ship computer file marked Horath. You know how to access that; you did it numerous times when we were capturing your friends."

He paused, titling his head to one side. "It's a shame you removed the visible signs of the implants I inserted into you. Gasket would probably receive you much better if you looked like you were at least partially robotic."

Justin ground his teeth in frustration, refusing to respond to the other's taunting and baiting. Darkonda delighted in cruelty and psychological games, and while Justin had made the mistake of verbally engaging with the creature in the past, he had never yet managed to come out on top. Darkonda held too many points of psychological advantage over him. He had been the one to capture Justin. He had even been the one, he had boasted, who had installed the former Turbo Ranger's first neural net. And during their team-up he had been the one to take point in subduing the other former Rangers.

Involuntarily the seventeen year-old found his mind drifting back to the day he had first encountered this foul being . . .

That Friday afternoon there hadn't been a cloud in sight as he hurried home from school. The sky had been a pure, beautiful blue, just the way he liked it most.

Maybe he and Dad could go fishing again this Saturday. They had been spending more time together since the move, exactly as Justin had hoped when he'd made the difficult decision to remain with his father rather than go off into space with his friends.

Seeing those absent friends again last month, knowing that they were okay (well, they'd been okay after he and Storm Blaster had rescued them, anyway) had been such a wonderful relief!

Of course he hadn't seen or heard from them since. He'd kind of thought they might call on him to help them again, especially now that he had regained a Blue Turbo Morpher from Storm Blaster, but so far . . . nothing. He'd told them he'd always be there if they needed him. Didn't they believe him?

Maybe they were just trying to give him time with his Dad. That was why he'd left the team in the first place, after all. And it was great, no doubt about that.

But there was still plenty of time left to fill. Dad's job often kept him out late, school work here was no more of a challenge than it had been at Angel Grove High, and his difficulty in making friends was apparently still intact, his past befriending of Nico notwithstanding.

If anything, it seemed even harder now to make friends than it had been. Even though the kids in his class were years older than he was, the things they liked to do and were concerned with seemed awfully, well, _childish_.

When you'd been out there saving people, making a real difference, it was hard to go back to just being a kid.

At least he was still able to e-mail Tommy. That helped some.

No car in the driveway, the young genius noted. Dad must have had to work late again tonight. Checking a sigh Justin took out his house key and let himself in, resigned to spending the rest of the evening alone.

Except he wasn't alone.

The alien which emerged from the living room to confront him was a biped with two eyes, but there any real resemblance to humanity ended. He wore a shell of crab-like organic armor which covered his legs, torso, and most of his upper body, but parted in a multi-fanged V-shaped maw to leave exposed the pectoral area of his chest, his neck and his head. He wore gauntlets of the same curious substance, while his visible skin was a bright red. On the top of his head were two horns, crowning rows of descending, steadily smaller horns which ended just above his forehead. In his hand he held a sword and at waist-height two chains dangled from the armor. His eyes were a glowing, pupil-less yellow.

His time as a Ranger had taught Justin not to judge beings by outward appearances. Lerigot had been pretty ugly too, and look what a good guy he had turned out to be! There was something about this alien, though, that set alarm bells ringing in his head. Somehow he knew this was not an ally of his friends come to request his help, a presentiment only confirmed by the first words spoken.

"Yet another child to abduct! Maybe I should open a sideline business, "Darkonda, experienced kidnapper of kiddies"!'

"You won't be kidnapping me!" Justin spat out defiantly. Twisting his left wrist he summoned his Turbo Morpher. Then he dropped his house key, reached into his pocket, and brought out his _other_ Key.

"Shift into T-!" he began to cry, stopping in shock as his foe lashed out with the sword, opening up a deep cut on the bottom of his clenched fist and causing his hand to spasm open and drop the Key.

The pain he felt was insignificant compared to the pure shock which ripped through him. That almost never happened!

Knowing that to bend over and grab for the Key would only invite a blow to the back of the head, Justin dove to the alien's right, going into a somersault and smoothly regaining his feet in time to shoot a kick backward into his pursuing enemy.

His aim and execution was flawless, but the impact of his sneaker against that strange armor only made the alien burst into mocking laughter. In his non-morphed state he lacked the physical power to harm his attacker.

Oh, how he wished he still had the awesome super-strength he'd gained from that weird ant-bite!

He'd have to go for escape instead of battle. He raced through the hallway, toward the back door to the kitchen, only to have the alien appear directly in front of him!

He came to a halt just as the devil-like creature slammed a fist into his stomach. Doubling over in agony Justin gasped for breath, dearly missing now too the armor and toughness he enjoyed in his morphed state.

"The last child I kidnapped put up more of a fight-and she was a little girl!" the thing crowed triumphantly.

While he was cackling Justin shot his left hand toward what seemed to be his adversary's only weak points: his eyes.

His wrist was seized in an iron grip before his fingers could reach their target. The glow in those sickly yellow orbs brightened and two thin beams of light leapt forward, impacting the boy's chest and creating a concussive blast which knocked him sprawling.

"Enough fun," the thing sighed. He took one of the chains from his belt, casting it around Justin.

Then he electrified it.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Justin winced at the mere memory. When he'd next awoken it had been three days later, and he had felt-different. He'd been greeted by Astronema and once she'd explained the plan to him, he'd agreed to go with Darkonda to kidnap other former Rangers to be changed and made into Psycho Rangers. Their first target had been the only old Ranger whose location he knew for certain: Tommy.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

When Tommy Oliver let himself into his dorm room after his meeting with his geology class study group, he realized at once that he had a surprise visitor. A familiar mop of brown hair was visible on the small figure sitting at his desk chair in his bedroom.

"Justin?!" he asked in disbelief.

The chair spun around and Justin Stewart leapt up, tearstains on his face. "Tommy, you've gotta help me! I didn't know who else I could turn to!" Justin wailed.

Quickly dropping his notebook and Geology text on the kitchen table, the college student made great speed toward his friend.

"What happened, Justin? What's wrong?" he asked, his tone betraying his deep concern.

At that time Tommy Oliver was the most skilled, experienced former Ranger in the entire galaxy. He was a third degree black belt and past holder of more different powers than any of his predecessors. A victorious veteran of literally hundreds of battles against the monsters of Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, King Mondo, and Divatox the Pirate, he was a natural and consummate leader, arguably the cornerstone of every Ranger team which had been privileged enough to have him. He was not just a Power Ranger; he was _THE_ Power Ranger!

Yet when Justin viciously kicked him directly in the groin as he sprinted forward, he became nothing more than a man, curled up on his dorm room floor in terrible pain. He didn't feel Justin placing his left sneakered foot atop his dark-haired head in triumph, and he barely registered someone else wrenching his arms behind his back and securing them together somehow. The only thing which truly registered for him was the teleportation stream, and that was because it brought about a blissful absence of pain.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

It had been like that with all of the abductions, the Blue Psycho Ranger recalled with a scowl. In each case Darkonda had shifted into his form and had been the one who got to have all the fun of beating up on and subduing their targets, while his participation had been limited to restraining the battered young adults with one of the mercenary's chains afterwards. He had tried to argue otherwise, but Darkonda had smugly pointed out that even humans were likely to notice the multiple cybernetic implants protruding grotesquely from his skull and therefore become suspicious. Besides, he made a better Justin anyway, the alien had asserted infuriatingly.

"Not paying attention?" Darkonda's voice queried mockingly, rousing him from his rememberances. "Perhaps a flaw in that new neural net you designed is keeping you from focusing? I'd try to make the effort anyway if I were you. I don't think our illustrious Emperor would look kindly upon your failure here, would he?"

Grinding his teeth together once more, Justin reluctantly shifted his full attention back to his loathsome traveling companion.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The message turned out to be of vital and terrifying importance.

Dark Specter was trying to bring Prince Gasket's kingdom onto his side! Calling up all of the data they had on Gasket's realm, Billy swiftly confirmed his worst fears. With Gasket's armada under the UAE banner, the balance of naval power would be completely reversed. The GLL would be outgunned in space, outmanned on the ground, and out of ways to counter impact of the Psycho Rangers.

None of his simulations or contingency plans had ever taken into account the idea of the United Alliance of Evil and Prince Gasket allying, since the possibility had seemed so remote. King Mondo and his first-constructed son had been estranged for centuries! It was only after Mondo's apparent destruction that Gasket had sought to claim the Machine Empire's throne, a claim he had renounced the instant he'd learned of his father's return.

Even now it apparently wasn't a done deal. Dark Specter had sent Darkonda and the Blue Psycho Ranger to try to form the alliance. Billy's first thought was to try to dispatch ships to ambush their spacecraft en route, like Admiral Yamamoto's plane had been shot down during World War II. There the intelligence had come as a result of codebreaking, whereas here it was thanks to the efforts of their spy, but otherwise the situation was much the same.

Unfortunately a quick check of the star charts showed that the path to Horath, Gasket's throne world, lay entirely within UAE space. He knew without asking that Admiral Telan would never get approval for such a costly, risky sortie from the Galactic League council, especially since Dark Specter could simply send someone else.

A preemptive attack on Gasket's kingdom was also completely out of the question. Their fleet was in no way strong enough to both strike at Gasket and defend the GLL planets from the UAE. Furthermore, making such an attack would only make the alliance a certainty, since it would then be a matter of sheer survival for the currently neutral despot.

He couldn't even call the Rangers back to try to deal with the situation. They needed to obtain the Great Power if they were to have any chance against the Psycho Rangers and their newest member. He dare not delay their quest any further, not with the fate of the galaxy at stake.

There had to be something he could do, though! He couldn't just let this happen, couldn't run the risk that the Blue Psycho Ranger could somehow bring father and son back together. This emissary had to be intercepted, but how? The only one who could even hope to move safely in UAE space was . . . their . . . agent.

He couldn't take out a Psycho Ranger alone, but maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have to. In fact . . . yes, of course!

Billy typed out a terse reply, explaining in brief his plan and ordering their agent to make all due speed to Aquitar if he was willing to go along with the admittedly extremely dangerous scheme. It was a great risk, pulling out their best intelligence asset, but Billy had the authority to do so and it was difficult to imagine a piece of intelligence more vital to act upon than this one.

He'd hoped to spend the next couple of days working on bringing Ashley's spare body to full operational status, but now there was a different project taking precedence, one which had to be built as quickly as possible. He was certainly going to miss the help of Justin and Cestro on this, but he would get it done regardless; he had to. An opportunity like this, a chance to kill two birds with one stone, was unlikely to appear again. They needed to seize it with both hands, before it slipped away as so much else had during this war.

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	6. Chapter 6

Completing the voyage to Phaedos would take four days. They were keeping to the route the merchant ship was set to follow until they neared the Hyperion Constellation. Then they would break off and make for the planet, hopefully doing so unnoticed by anyone.

T.J. understood the need for stealth, to take every precaution to avoid having their plan compromised, but mere hours into their trip the wait already felt interminable.

The frenzy of preparation and planning had concluded, and now there was nothing left to do. Nothing but wait . . . and think.

That was the problem, T.J. reflected, staring at the gray metal wall his bunk adjoined. When they were busy doing something they didn't have to remember the teammates they'd lost, the friends they would never see again. Nor did they have to consider what the terrible price of their failure on Morrigan might eventually be, or contemplate the fact that the coming trial had resulted in the deaths of all Ranger teams who had ever attempted it, with the exception of Billy's. It would have been better by far to be busy acting in the present and not have time to look to the past or the future.

"Hey, Justin!" T.J. called out to the bunk above him.

"Yeah?" the reply came back, the voice drained of its usual vitality and enthusiasm. T.J. winced to hear it. He'd considered more than once asking Billy to reprogram him with a way to control his emotions, to allow him to shut out the negative ones and only experience the positive ones, but he never had. The idea just seemed too artificial, too unnatural-and yes, he was well aware of the irony of an android thinking that! Nonetheless his mind and personality remained the image of what T.J. Johnson's had been when he sat down in the neural copier. That was the foundation of his self, and not something he could meddle with, not without losing his very identity.

At times like these, though, it seemed Carlos had gotten the better end of the deal.

Disconnecting the recharger wires from his wrist, he shut the panel, got out of his bunk, and stood to peer at the little android in the top bunk.

Justin was lying flat on his back, arms by his sides, staring up at the ceiling.

"You want to charge now?" he asked.

"No."

"What are you thinking about?"

Justin turned to him, his expression bleak and his eyes dry undoubtedly only because the Robot Rangers lacked the physical capacity to shed tears.

"I'm thinking about Cestro," he told the Red Ranger.

T.J. relflexively inhaled a breath he didn't need. Of course.

"Justin, you did everything you could for him."

"But I didn't save him!" the Blue Turbo Ranger protested, his voice fierce and angry. Unable to sit up do the low ceiling he rolled over to face T.J.

"You tried! That's all you can do. We can't save everyone."

"I know, I know we haven't been able to protect everyone, but he was a Ranger, he was one of us!" Justin protested, slamming a fist down onto the bunk and severely denting the metal underneath the foam mattress.

"He was my friend," Justin mumbled, as all the energy seemed to go out of him.

"He was mine too," T.J. confided, but he knew it had been different for Justin. When he and Cestro weren't in Billy's lab they'd often been sitting away in a corner, spouting out technobabble to each other that no one but Billy could comprehend. Thanks to his astonishing intellect, the original Justin had always found it difficult to make friends, and of course this one was no different. He and Cestro had simply clicked, and that had been a great thing for Justin.

He'd clicked with Billy too, but to T.J. that had always seemed more son/father than friendship.

"I wish he'd let us copy him! Why won't the Aquitan Rangers do that? We could keep them from ever dying if they'd let us!"

There were multiple reasons why the Aquitans refused to have their psyche copied and transferred into a robotic form; T.J. settled for reminding his teammate of the most important.

"Because it would be different for them than it was for us. Being alive without telepathy would be worse than being blind to an Aquitan. It would be torture."

Justin slumped back onto his back, his gaze returning to the ceiling.

"Do you want to recharge?" T.J. asked again.

Listlessly Justin held out his wrist, allowing T.J. to pop the panel and attach the wires.

T.J. searched for anything else he could say, any words of comfort he could offer, and found nothing. He settled back down onto his bunk and silence once more pervaded the cabin.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Once they reached the edge of Prince Gasket's solar system, Darkonda brought the ship to a halt. "How do we approach?" he asked slyly.

"Openly," Justin answered. Setting the communications to the frequency used by Prince Gasket's forces, he began transmitting.

"This is the Blue Pyscho Ranger. I come in peace as an ambassador, a personal emissary of Dark Specter, Emperor of Evil. I beg an audience with Prince Gasket, the undisputed ruler of this system, so that I might speak to him about a matter of great importance. I await your reply."

Shutting off the transmission, he confirmed through sensors that the outer picket ships had received his transmission. Several of them were moving toward their position now, backed up by a trio of Gear cruisers. If they opened hostilities this much firepower would annihilate Darkonda's vessel almost instantly.

The keen awareness of his own vulnerability was intolerable and Justin momentarily wished he had been allowed to come aboard the _Envenomed Blade_. Even that ship, however, wouldn't be able to stand up to the small fleet currently arraying itself against them. No, if Gasket wanted them to die, they would.

Their only hedges against that were the power of the UAE and the rationality of Gasket, both of which he actually had some degree of faith in. Even with their current naval problem, the United Alliance of Evil was still the most powerful force in the galaxy. The Prince had wisely done nothing to provoke the UAE in the years prior to this and, during the time of the Zeo Rangers, he had fled back to Horath once King Mondo returned rather than try to fight his father. Then, too, there was that incident he'd read about in the Ranger Archives, when Gasket had convinced an amnesiac Tommy that he was the ruler of the Machine Empire and Gasket was merely his advisor.

Taken together all of this seemed to indicate that Gasket wasn't a puffed-up, pride-filled despot or a rash ruler subject to an ungovernable lust for conquest. He was instead a level-headed realist, one not given to overestimating himself or underestimating his opponents. On the whole that made him extraordinarily dangerous, but in this specific situation those qualities would almost certainly keep him from destroying their ship.

That was Justin's hypothesis, anyway.

It was proven twenty-two minutes later, when central cruiser broadcast an acknowledgement and insistence that they would conduct the ambassador's ship to Horath, where Prince Gasket waited to receive him.

Sending his compliance, Justin leaned back in his seat. "Take us in," he directed Darkonda.

For once the alien complied without comment, their minnow of a vessel moving in concert with the triad of behemoths now positioned to their left, right, and straight ahead.

Perhaps Darkonda was simply relieved that they hadn't been vaporized. From what Justin had managed to piece together the mercenary had used up all of the additional lives Dark Specter had magically gifted him with as a reward for his service. He had only one life left now, just like almost every other being.

That was a fact which pleased the Blue Pyscho Ranger immensely.

Horath was largely a desert planet, with an uncomfortably high temperature. Justin took care to eat lunch and hydrate himself thoroughly as they descended through the atmosphere. There would be food and water for the lizardlike native slaves in the city, but it would be better by far not to have to rely on his host's hospitality for his bodily needs. Of course, depending on how long he would have to remain here, such reliance might well prove unavoidable.

Grimacing at the thought, Justin put his helmet back on and eyed the city as they swept over it. The metropolis gleamed in the sunlight, even more brightly than the many robots passing along the avenues and bridges.

They flew toward the landing pad they'd been directed to, one in Prince Gasket's home. Before Darkonda's briefing Justin had expected a cube, or perhaps a pyramid; instead it was castle built entirely from metal, with a few modern touches, such as the landing pads, defense lasers, interior monorail system, and various and sundry other improvements.

He probably should have expected as much, given Mondo's title as King, his wife's as Queen, and their sons as Princes of the "Royal House of Gadgetry". For all of their impressive technology and galaxy-spanning power, the ruling family of the Machine Empire retained a curiously medieval fixation.

"We were directed to the landing pad closest to Prince Gasket's quarters," Darkonda informed him as they passed over the exterior wall. "I'm sure he'll be there to meet us personally."

"To meet _me_," the Blue Psycho Ranger corrected firmly, savoring the surprised expression on the monster's hideous face. "You'll stay aboard the ship while I assess the situation and decide how you can best contribute."

"Remember who you're speaking to, boy!" the alien hissed dangerously, engaging the auto-pilot and spinning his chair to face the Blue Psycho Ranger. "You don't give me orders!"

"Maybe not, but Dark Specter does. You were assigned to be my assistant, remember? I'm the one in charge of this mission and you'll do as I say. Unless you want to call Dark Specter and complain to him?" Justin offered, rising up from his chair and waving a white-gloved hand invitingly towards the communications console.

Darkonda glared at him with such force that Justin tensed for battle, expecting the well-remembered energy bolts to once more blaze forth from the alien's eyes.

"Of course," Darkonda sneered, relaxing back into his pilot's chair. "It is your mission. You are in charge and you will make all the decisions. You will be the one to reap the rewards of success-or accept the punishment for failure," he finished gloatingly, completely quashing the growing satisfaction Justin had been feeling from having finally gotten the better of this monstrosity.

The Blue Psycho Ranger was saved from the necessity of futilely trying to come up with a worthy retort by the soft clank of metal on metal as the ship settled down onto the landing pad.

Without a word he turned and headed back toward the rear hatch, hitting the button on the wall which lowered the cargo ramp. His tinted visor helped shield him from the bright light after being in the twilight interior of Darkonda's vessel for so long, just as his Ranger uniform protected him from the heat. He was thus able to concentrate on and appreciate the spectacle Prince Gasket had apparently arranged for him.

A hundred foot long walkway connected this landing pad, located near the very top of the castle, to a tower jutting up from the building proper. Strung along the wide walkway was a double row of Cogs standing at attention. The two next to the castle door each rose what looked like one of the primitive one-piece horns from Earth's distant past, but clearly they were not; such instruments could not produce the pitch-perfect trumpeting sound which issued forth from them, especially when the "musicians" had no breath to blow into the instruments.

From the door stepped another Cog, appearing different from the others, his limbs and trunk more slender while his head was almost a third larger.

"Prince Gasket, ruler of Horath and all planets in this solar system, bids welcome to the Blue Pyscho Ranger, ambassador of the United Alliance of Evil!" he announced at what would have for humans been a shout.

Justin started forward, only to snap into his stance as every Cog in the double row moved at once. Their right arms snapped up, their flat right hands in position just above their eyes.

They were saluting him, Justin realized, feeling more than a little foolish for his instinctive reaction. He hadn't even met Prince Gasket yet and already he was off-balance and embarrassed. At least the Prince hadn't been here to see his error.

Only when he neared the tower door did Justin realize how wrong he was. Stranding just beyond the speaking robot, inside the open doorway, was a figure whose faceplate was vaguely reminiscent of a Japanese samurai or daimyo mask, his eye plates glowing yellow.

This was Prince Gasket, and the Blue Psycho Ranger had no doubt whatsoever that the ruler's optical viewers were able to see much farther than the hundred feet which had been separating them.

The thin robot dropped down to one knee, exposing the upper half of his sovereign. "Welcome indeed!" Prince Gasket stated. "I am honored by your visit."

"The honor is mine, Prince Gasket," Justin replied, formally bowing at the waist.

As Justin straightened he saw Mondo's first built son studying him intently. He had to very curious about why the UAE was suddenly reaching out to him, perhaps even worried, but of course being a mechanical being he gave no outward sign of either. Nor did he betray his interest with a question. Instead he said simply, "Let us retire to more comfortable surroundings" and headed off down the hall, motioning for Justin to follow him.

That he felt comfortable enough to turn his back on the Psycho Ranger, with no apparent guards present as the two of them descended the tower's circular stairway, was worrying. It could be only empty bravado, but it could also be a sign of genuine, well-placed confidence.

From the base of the stairway a short hall led to an automatic door, opening onto a red-carpeted, pillared throne room, with a gilded throne standing at a dais on the far side of the room. Before the dais was a small plain round table, with two chairs. Gasket took the far chair and motioned for Justin to take the remaining one.

So he was sitting them down as equals, rather than making Justin speak standing while he sat on the throne. Interesting.

"I can have food and drink brought for you," Gasket graciously offered.

"Thank you, my lord, but I have no need of them at present. The matter which has brought me here is of vital importance and I should speak of it immediately."

The Prince graciously inclined his head, saying nothing.

"Though much of the galaxy remains ignorant of that fact, you are doubtless aware that yesterday I and my fellow Psycho Rangers slew three of the Light Rangers and wounded another on the planet Morrigan. The Galactic League of Light," Justin spat out with contempt, "no longer has sufficient defenders to stand against the Psycho Rangers."

"Then why are you here instead of ravaging their planets?" Gasket asked in a tone of polite interest, but Justin knew when he was being played with.

"Though our ground forces are now irresistible, the GLL maintains a temporary naval superiority. The UAE wishes to press its advantage while our foe is still reeling, and in order to do so I have come to the only place in the galaxy which has an armada sufficient to reverse the tide. I have come to you, Prince Gasket."

"And what does my father have to say of this?" Gasket asked, leaning forward.

"He has not yet been informed, my prince. It was Dark Specter's hope that by coming here and speaking with you I might find a way to help build a bridge over the rift between you and your father."

The pointed invocation of the Grand Monarch of Evil did not have the cowing effect Justin had hoped. Electronic laughter issued forth from the Prince.

"There is no bridge to be built!" he insisted. "My father will never accept my wife. It was because of my marriage to her that I was exiled from the Royal House of Gadgetry and stripped of the title of crown prince! I lost my position, my inheritance, my parents . . . and it was all worth it," he concluded firmly.

I am sure the Lady Archerina is a companion beyond all value," Justin began, only to be interrupted.

"She is indeed," Prince Gasket confirmed. "Look upon her," he invited, gesturing back over the Blue Pscyho Ranger's shoulder.

Twisting in his chair he saw a slender, femininely-built robot only a few yards away. In her hands was a high tech-appearing bow and as he turned to face her she loosed an arrow of light aimed directly at his chest.

There wasn't time to dodge and somehow the light went right through his armor as though it wasn't there! Surprisingly there was no pain, only a strange sensation of warmth. He suddenly found himself wholeheartedly agreeing with Prince Gasket about Archernia. A being so beautiful, so perfect . . . who wouldn't give up everything to be with her? To please her?

"My wife is eager to hear details of the wider galaxy, ambassador. We entertain so seldom here. Why don't you tell her all about the UAE's plan for when my father threatens to secede if I am allowed into the Alliance's ranks? What is your real motive in coming here?"

The dark visor unexpectedly turned back to Price Gasket, and this time the Blue Psycho Ranger was the one to laugh.

"Good try, my Prince! Your wife's love arrow would have ensnared any other emissary, but we Psycho Rangers have our own kind of programming in the form of an implanted neural net. It institutes several changes to our minds, one of which is that we cannot feel the emotion of love. Her arrow's effects were cut off almost as soon as they began," he finished coldly, rising to stand before the shocked monarch.

Bolting up himself Prince Gasket whipped his sword from its scabbard.

"Even if you could destroy us, you would never leave Horath alive!" he snarled. "Go now, while you still may!"

"Go?" Justin questioned in mock puzzlement. "I'm not going anywhere, my Prince. You and your wife have just made clear to me how we're going to facilitate your entry into the United Alliance of Evil and thus bring about the conquest of the galaxy.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

There was no point in trying to watch the ship leave. Instead Billy left the hangar bay, shuffling more than walking down the corridor.

It had taken three feverish days of virtually non-stop work, but he'd completed it, tested it, and then sent "Cestro" off with its new user. Though he'd told that name to no one else, he thought it an appropriate tribute, and a fitting one, to his fallen friend.

That he wasn't worrying about the future at the moment was likely due to the almost complete physical, mental and emotional exhaustion he was feeling. Only hours earlier he'd had to defend to the GLL military his decision to pull their most valuable intelligence resource out of the field for what Admiral Melooren had characterized as a "overly optimistic, criminally irresponsible gamble".

Didn't the Aquitan see that gambles were the only hope they had left? That if they didn't take chances now the free part of the galaxy was inexorably doomed? The war had turned against them, and there was no easy, safe way to reverse that tide. If the Rangers continued to act conservatively, as the fleet had been doing, then they would all be killed, and the Galactic League of Light itself would be conquered and destroyed. Most of the military leaders, however, couldn't seem to bring themselves to accept that fact, instead railing against his decisions. Even with Admiral Telan's guarded support, Billy felt like he'd gone three rounds against Lord Zedd in his prime by the time the meeting finally concluded.

Now, the last of his obligations discharged, Billy slowly made his way to his quarters, to his bedroom, and there he collapsed onto the bed, asleep only seconds after his head hit the pillow.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The staff smashed the Quantron's head cleanly from its shoulders before its tip drove like a spear into the chest of the last Quantron. Stepping back from his stance, Fred glanced down at the wreckage all around him which had once been a squad of twelve Quantrons.

They hadn't been much of a challenge at all, but he still felt better for having been able to vent some of his energy in battle. His set of chosen concubines was due to arrive tomorrow, which would be a welcome relief and distraction. In the four days since Justin had left Fred Kelman had been bored out of his mind!

In the resistance base there had always been tasks which needed doing, people to hang out with and spar with. He'd grown used to constant activity and companionship and so life on the Dark Fortress was really beginning to test his patience.

It'd be different if Justin were still here. Hanging out with him on Earth had been terrific, and if he hadn't been sent away they'd probably still be having a blast despite the lack of action. He hadn't heard from his friend since Justin had left, and he could only hope against hope that the latter's mission was going well.

"Ready to fight a real opponent?" a voice challenged and the Gold Psycho Ranger looked up to see Tommy standing at the door, in full morph naturally, with the other Psycho Rangers save Justin now leaning against the wall.

"Or do you only spar with Quantrons?" he goaded.

Okay, Fred knew what this was. Tommy was intending to beat him up in front of the other Rangers, thus demonstrating his dominance before his team. The words of Justin's warning echoed in the seventeen year-old's mind, and he would heed them. He wouldn't kill Tommy . . . but he wasn't about to back down or throw the match either.

"Let's spar," Fred agreed and Tommy advanced to near the center of the room. As they stood facing each other Fred couldn't resist taking an opening which would likely never come again.

"When you left I was but the learner," he told Tommy solemnly, grinning widely under his helmet. "Now I am the master!"

Come on, the black armor he was wearing, the old apprentice facing his mentor on the space station of a galactic empire?! How on Earth could he be expected to let all that go without making the _Star Wars_ reference?

Sadly Tommy didn't seem to see the humor in his situation, rushing forward with a roar. For several minutes Fred was purely on the defensive, turning aside thrusts of Tommy's Psycho Sword and blocking chops with his staff.

Tommy was still an expert swordsman, Fred conceded ruefully as he ducked yet another swipe of the Psycho Sword. If not for his relentless aggression, the impatience he displayed in his eagerness to gut his former student, he would have landed a lot more than the three hits Fred had taken so far.

So it was time to change the game. Shifting into what he thought of as his "cannonball" form, Fred flashed away from Tommy before arcing back to slam into him and knock him into the wall. Smashing the Psycho Sword spinning away with a blow from his staff, he pressed the tip to Tommy's neck. Remembering how easily it had burned through the Aquitan's armor he was sorely tempted to do the same here, but instead he merely gloated, "I win."

"No, you don't," Tommy managed to rasp out, and that's when they hit him from behind. Fred figured out later that it must have been all three Psycho Rangers who got him simultaneously and once he was down they never let up, Tommy joining in almost immediately. His staff was wrenched away from him as what felt like electrified jackhammers pummeled seemingly every inch of his body. He couldn't teleport with the constant blows to his helmet; he could barely think!

When at last it ended Tommy lifted his own helmet up, revealing the horrific electronic components sticking out of his face.

Then he spat on the beaten Gold Psycho Ranger.

"Remember this!" the leader of the Psycho Rangers commanded. "You might have the Gold Psycho powers, but you're just the new kid on this team. Keep to your place from now on and we won't have to repeat this," he finished, replacing his helmet and striding from the room, followed by the other Psychos.

Left alone, Fred slowly pulled himself into a sitting position, drawing in one deep breath after another. Justin needed to get back soon. Otherwise he was going to rip Tommy limb from limb and fuck the consequences!

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	7. Chapter 7

In spite of the frustration of not being able to kill their opponent, it was at least a fairly content group of Psycho Rangers who left the training room, none more so than Tommy Oliver.

Those Gold Psycho Ranger powers should have been his, HIS! He deserved them, far more than his former martial arts student. He'd finally put the upstart in his place today, though, with the help of the three other Pyscho Rangers. Persuading them to aid him hadn't been hard; Psycho Rangers were always up for a fight, and his warning that their newest member might start throwing his weight around if something wasn't done had found eagerly receptive ears.

The Pink Psycho Ranger leaned into him as they walked, purring an invitation in a low voice, "Come back to my room so we can celebrate."

Tommy was tempted, picturing the shining golden hair, beautiful face and flawless body hidden by the Pink Psycho armor. Each time they'd been together it had been a passionate, primal joining as each of them strove for their own pleasure.

"Not now," he said curtly, and his teammate's seductive voice took on an ugly edge.

"You're going to her, aren't you?"

It wasn't so much a question as an accusation, one the Psycho Rangers' leader didn't bother answering as he went down the corridor leading to his room.

Fuming, Kat turned to find herself alone; the Green and Yellow Psycho Rangers had already gone to Adam's room.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The coolness of the metal wall stung his bare back as Tanya all but hurled him into it, kissing him as though she meant to literally consume him. Adam Park kissed back just as hard, his mind clouding over with arousal and passion.

Nonetheless he found a brief moment to reflect with an overwhelming sense of satisfaction on his current situation. After turning his Turbo power over to its new wielder, he had felt . . . empty. Adrift, purposeless, he had enrolled at AGU mainly because it was expected of him, attending the classes he was signed up for with no enthusiasm. The only moment of real excitement had come when he had helped his successor Carlos through the latter's crisis of confidence regarding accidentally striking a teammate. After that, though, everything had seemed even more pointless.

Darkonda and Justin kidnapping him had actually been a blessing in disguise. Now he had a mission again: to help the UAE subjugate the galaxy and slaughter all who opposed him. In the meantime he had the pleasure of Tanya and his concubines, none of which he genuinely cared for, but all of which he enjoyed. Life was good.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

She was lying on the bed when he entered her room. Her head whipped around to face him and he saw the despair in her eyes. Even sweeter, he saw helpless resignation.

He didn't love her. Psycho Rangers could not feel love; their neural nets prevented it. The near-obsessive possessiveness he did feel was probably as close as he could get, though, even if it was mixed with a bitter and enduring anger.

Justin and Adam thought it odd that he had chosen only one concubine; they both had over a dozen. His teammates simply didn't understand. One, this one, was all he'd needed, all he'd ever needed.

Early on, soon after he'd brought her to the Dark Fortress, she had screamed to him that they were not Beauty and the Beast. She'd been half-right. He was no mere beast, but she _was_ beautiful. He had always thought she was beautiful, from the first day he had laid eyes on her, and she remained lovely still. He had made sure of that. The scars, the broken bones, the internal injuries-all had been healed over the years by Rita's magic.

Before going to her Tommy shot a quick glance to the Quantron standing silently in the corner. The machine made no response to his unspoken inquiry.

Good. She hadn't tried to kill herself again. Maybe he'd finally broken her spirit, at last made her realize that there was no escape. Perhaps she had finally come to terms with the fact that she was his now, only his. There was no choice anymore, and there never would be again.

Of course he'd believed she had accepted that truth before, many times, and each time she had surprised him, each time she had bounced back and returned to her pointless resistance. Her spirit was enduring and her will strong, as he well knew.

Stripping off his clothes he approached the bed, frowning as she cringed away. She was so small, so compact, yet she was lithe and flexible. He deeply enjoyed those characteristics in her.

He ran his hand through her brown hair, ignoring her shudder. Leaning down, placing his lips next to her ear, he whispered to her the same words he always had every time before he had taken her, even when the two of them had been together back on Earth.

"You are my heart," Tommy murmured.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The discussion, or rather argument, with Gasket and his wife had gone on long into the night. The Prince was by his programming cautious and careful, not at all lacking in courage, but also not given to taking any unnecessary risks. That was why he'd fled his father's wrath when his love for Archerina came to light. His current kingdom was small, but stable and well-fortified, with an impressively powerful navy and military. The course of action the Blue Psycho Ranger was proposing could lead to Gasket regaining his status as Crown Prince of the Royal House of Gadgetry . . . but the plan required him to put himself and his spouse in a position of great vulnerability, and if anything went wrong it could easily result in their permanent destruction. Hence the robotic ruler's natural reluctance.

None of this mattered to the Blue Psycho Ranger. Gasket and Archerina were going to go along with this, because it was what the UAE needed. More importantly, it was what HE needed!

The idea had come to him in a flash of inspiration, shortly after Archerina's love arrow had struck him. In reviewing the pair's past history he had come across reference to Louie Kaboom, the usurper who had briefly taken the throne of the Machine Empire. Before his destruction the mechanical monster had himself fallen prey to one of Archerina's love arrows. The arrows could affect robots as well as organic beings; the only reason the one she'd sent at him had failed was because his neural net was specially designed to prevent him from ever experiencing love.

King Mondo did not have such an add-on.

Not that they could make the mechanical monarch fall in love with Archerina; that would be far too obviously a trick and would lead only to disaster. If the bow could be slightly modified, however, to produce a familial love, then it could be used to restore Mondo's feelings for his eldest son.

The scheme was admittedly audacious in the extreme, calling for a direct attack on one of the leaders of the United Alliance of Evil, but it was the only avenue open which offered any possibility of success.

He was a genius super-warrior, not a family counselor! He could not hope to heal a half-century rift between two robots with words; Gasket's reaction to his initial offering had made that all too clear. His only hope lay in his area of specialization: technology.

Except the bow wasn't purely technological, Archerina had eventually disclosed. It was instead an amalgam of technology and magic.

Given its effectiveness on both organic and non-organic beings, he should have deduced as much for himself, but there were no other signs of magic use anywhere around Horath. That turned out to be because the bow had been a gift from Archerina's father, who had been a sorcerer himself. He'd also been annihilated centuries ago, and Archerina had no magical ability of her own.

Once again Justin was thankful that he did not possess the standard Pyscho Ranger neural net. If he had, he surely would have attacked both sovereign and spouse upon learning that information, though he was by no means certain he could survive a battle with both of them at once, even discounting the legion of soldiers the Prince had at his beck and call.

So he needed someone well versed in magic if he hoped to alter the bow's enchantment. Yet neither Lord Zedd nor Rita could be trusted with the news of this plan. That left only one possibility.

"Prince Gasket, I know of someone who can aid me in altering your wife's bow. I can help you regain everything you've lost: your parents, your position as heir, your rightful place as one of the rulers of the galaxy-but only if your wife and her bow come with me now, to the Dark Fortress."

"You expect me to allow my wife to accompany you alone? Do you take me for a fool?" sneered Prince Gasket.

"Then come with us! I'll prove to you what I say is true and Dark Specter himself will give you his personal assurance of the rewards you'll receive for this!"

Justin took a deep breath before going on into his final pitch.

"My Prince, I cannot force you to agree to my plan, but know that the fate of the galaxy itself hangs on your decision! We must strike now if we hope to defeat the Galactic League of Light, while the ranks of their Ranger protectors are diminished. If you refuse to even try this, then you will doom yourself, your wife, and this entire system! Right now you are left alone in your cocoon of neutrality as the war rages around you, far too costly a prize to be worth seizing for either side. But my Prince, while you might be able to last forever, given the proper replacement parts . . . this war will not!"

"If the League prevails, do you truly believe they will allow you continue with your enslavement of the native inhabitants of Horath? They'll come for you, to finish their purge of evil from the galaxy. And if the UAE triumphs without you, you won't be the glorious hero who came to our side in our hour of need; you'll be Mondo's traitorous son, and Dark Specter will be more than happy to obliterate you in vengeance for your unwillingness to side with us."

"You can take either victory with the United Alliance of Evil, or have the surety of eventual extermination. The choice is yours."

The Blue Psycho Ranger sat back in his chair, his body language not betraying his anxiety as he waited for the Prince to either save or condemn all of them.

Gasket did neither.

"Leave us," he commanded, motioning towards the throne room's double doors. "I will speak with my wife."

Rising and bowing, Justin left the room, only to find a squad of Cogs waiting for him in the anteroom. He called his Psycho Axe to his hand with a feeling of despair, but instead of attacking the Cogs merely filed around him to stand in front of the throne room door. Apparently Prince Gasket was unwilling to take the risk that the Blue Psycho Ranger might eavesdrop upon his conversation.

While he waited he paced the small chamber and strove unsuccessfully to think of a back-up plan if Gasket should refuse his offer. There wasn't one. Dark Specter would reduce him to the status of a beserker upon his return, and there was no place he could hope to go to evade the Grand Monarch of Evil's reach.

After what felt like a century but was in reality only an hour the squad of Cogs opened the old-fashioned double doors and filed to the sides of the room. The Blue Psycho Ranger walked back into the throne room, alert and ready. If the answer wasn't the one he wanted, he would destroy both Prince Gasket and his wife or die trying. Death was perhaps a better fate than being reduced back to the level of Tommy and the others.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Darkonda started at the unexpected opening of the ship's door, swiveling in his pilot's chair. He had assumed it would be at least a week before the brat admitted the impossibility of his task and returned to face Dark Specter's wrath. He was looking forward to the event, knowing that none of the blame for this mission's failure would fall upon him. It would be a pleasure to see the Blue Pyscho Ranger turned back into a warrior overwhelmed with anger and bloodlust. That was what the Psychos were meant to be, and Darkonda far preferred them that way; it meant one fewer variable in his plans to take over the Alliance.

So he was hardly upset that Justin had conceded so quickly. He smiled hungrily as the Psycho Ranger boarded the ship, a smile which faded when Prince Gasket and Archerina followed him.

"Signal Dark Specter that the United Alliance of Evil's newest leaders need to meet with him in secret and discuss the last pieces of the plan for them to join," Justin commanded, and though the helmet blocked any view of his face, Darkonda was sure that the human was wearing a smile not unlike the one he'd been flashing.

For once the alien mercenary found himself speechless.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

For Dark Specter it was a simple matter to teleport to the currently dark side of Triforia and meet them as they arrived. Justin explained his plan and Dark Specter examined the mystical aura of Archerina's bow. Extending a clawed hand larger than their tiny ship he shot a cord of red energy into the weapon, then instructed Justin on several technological modifications which would also need to be made. Since the facilities to do so did not exist aboard ship, Justin teleported to his lab on the Dark Fortress while Dark Specter spoke with the electronic monarch and his spouse.

When he had finished he prepared to teleport back, then hesitated. As long as he was here anyway . . .

"Fred! Miss me?" Justin asked through his helmet comm.

"Justin!" came the excited reply. "Where are you?"

"In my lab adjoining my quarters," he answered.

Eighteen seconds later the door to the corridor chimed, and Justin opened it to admit his ally.

"Finally! Now let's go and kill Tommy!" the Gold Psycho Ranger enthused as he stepped into the lab in full morph.

"What?"

"You're here again, so let's go butcher him!"

"Fred, what happened while I was gone?"

"He came to the training room and said he wanted to spar. I agreed, and I beat him! That's when the other Psychos hit me from behind. All of them together . . . "

The helmet's visor turned away and Justin knew his friend didn't want to admit to being defeated. 'Now you know how I feel every time we spar' the Blue Psycho Ranger thought to himself with a thrill of bitter enjoyment. Overall, though, this was pretty bad. It was a good thing the discipline Fred had developed as a rebel had kept him from taking action alone.

"When did this happen?"

"About fifteen minutes ago."

"Fred, we can't do this now," the seventeen year-old insisted, reaching out to place both hands on his friend's increasingly broad shoulders. "I'm on the verge of accomplishing my mission, but I need to go to Mondo's palace to complete it. After I pull this off and we finish the Rangers, Dark Specter might be willing to let us kill Tommy _openly_, with his blessing! Right now, though, it's the same as it was before: we can't let anyone know that we're the ones who killed him. I know you're angry and you should be, but as soon as I get back we'll start brainstorming ways we can get rid of him. Can you wait that long? Please?"

There was no way to read Fred's expression, but to his relief Justin felt the tension seep out of the Gold Psycho Ranger's shoulders.

"He's not living an instant longer than he has to, Justin," and the words were as much warning as promise. "I've let you get away with a couple of cheap shots because you're my friend-" "Get away with them"?! Was Fred somehow unaware of just how strong he was, of how hard he hit? How were taking blows like that in retaliation "getting away with" _anything_?!-"but not him. Nobody does that to me and lives. Nobody," he emphasized, and Justin caught the meaning. Fred didn't just want to kill Tommy; he was planning to kill all of the other Psycho Rangers who'd done this to him too.

Oh, well, once the Light Rangers were dead the UAE would no longer need a very experienced team of Psycho Rangers. In fact it would be better to bring in new ones, recruits with the same friendship/loyalty modification to their neural nets that Fred had been given. Once he was Grand Monarch of Evil he'd even let Fred pick the team, since the Gold Psycho Ranger would be the one leading them.

Too bad all of the people Fred would know well enough to recommend for the positions were already dead.

"I understand completely," Justin assured him. "I'll see you soon," he promised, and transformed into column of blue light as he teleported back to Darkonda's vessel.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Their journey was nearly at an end, Tideus reflected as he watched the planet Phaedos grow larger in the viewscreen. Given the fate of almost all who had preceded them here, perhaps he should be worried or even frightened, but he was not. For one, it would be a tremendous relief just to be out there taking action! These days of waiting had weighed heavily on all aboard, leaving them with literally nothing to do except mourn their losses. A powerful atmosphere of gloom had settled over the remaining Light Rangers.

Still, Tideus didn't doubt that Billy's advice on masking their approach had been for the best. He'd told them about how Ivan Ooze had sent troops to stop them when the disgusting despot had learned that they were seeking the Great Power. The UAE wouldn't just send a squad, as Ooze had done; they'd send the Psycho Rangers, and they couldn't face those murdering bottom feeders again until they had received the Great Power.

There had been no hostile attention paid to them at any point, not even when they'd set course for Phaedos after the last stop. Presumably the UAE remained completely unaware of their plan.

Of course the planet alone had been sufficient to do in virtually everyone else who had come here. Fortunately they were the best Ranger team the galaxy had ever seen. They would gain the Great Power, and then they would pay the Psycho Rangers back in full for Cestro and Corcus' deaths.

"Attention! We're approaching Phaedos!" The Aquitan Ranger announced over the in-ship comm. In less than a minute all of his comrades had crowded in behind the pilot's seat, life showing in their faces for the first time . . . well, for the first time since Morrigan.

The planet was massive, at least three times the size of Earth and with far less water, a most disconcerting fact for him and the other Aquitans. Happily their destination apparently lay on the edge of Phaedos' sole sea.

"Take us down and skirt the coastline," Delphine instructed as she leaned over his shoulder. "Scan for any sign of the ruins Billy told us about."

"Which coast?"

"He said he journeyed north and the sea was on his left. Follow the eastern coast," Delphine directed.

They soared above a rocky coast, one frequently giving way to sheer cliffs. It was atop one such cliff that the ship detected a number of stone pillars.

"That must be it! Take us in."

"Aye aye, captain!" Tideus cockily acknowledged, carefully setting the ship down a sufficient distance from the ruins so as not to endanger the ancient architecture.

Without any command needing to be given, the Light Rangers all morphed. Delpine took the lead until Aurico's right hand fell upon her shoulder.

_Please, let me go first,_ he asked telepathically. _We don't know for sure what's out there._

Beneath his message she could feel his heavy guilt over their losses, his fear that he would once again fail to protect his teammates, his friends.

_It wasn't your fault, Aurico. You did the best you could. We all did, _she sent to him, accompanying it with a wave of support and reassurance, hiding her own grave sense of responsibility for the losses her team had suffered.

She stepped aside, letting Aurico take the lead, and the Rangers emerged onto the surface of Pahedos.

There was no sign of hostility. There was no sign of anything. All was quiet.

"Dulcea!" Aurico called out. "We have come to seek the Great Power! Billy sent us!"

His words echoed around them.

There was no response.

"Where is she?" Justin asked in frustration.

"I don't know," Delpine admitted. "Billy said she found him, and led his group here."

"Wherever she is, we will find her!" Aurico announced decisively. "Delphine, you and Cassie wait here in case she shows up. Contact us through the comms if you see her or anyone else. Tideus, you are with me. We will go south along the coast. Justin and T.J., head inland toward the southeast. Report in anything unusual."

Without question the six broke up into their specified groups, four of them setting out while the other two settled in to wait-and hope.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

To his surprise Justin found his mouth dry and his stomach heaving unpleasantly as Darkonda brought the ship in for a landing at the Royal Pad. It wasn't fear of a fight; Dad had started teaching him karate almost from when he could first walk, and he'd sparred countless times before doing a year's duty as a Ranger. He enjoyed fighting, he didn't fear it.

No, his fear was because they couldn't be sure this would work. If it didn't everything would come down around him. Unless . . .

"What are you waiting for?" Darkonda snarled.

Shaking himself from his reverie, the Blue Psycho Ranger created chains around both Gasket and Archerina's wrists, just as he'd done for Fred not too long ago.

Leading them down the ramp he followed a short corridor before passing into the palace throne room.

"Your majesty," he said, kneeling before the ruler of the Machine Empire, and yanking the chains to make his two "captives" kneel as well.

"You!" Mondo exclaimed, his visual receptors locked on his chained son.

"This is why I requested a private audience with you, your Majesty," Justin smoothly explained as he stood. "I know you and the Queen don't see eye-to-eye regarding Prince Gasket, and I thought you would wish to decide his fate and that of his wife alone."

"You will be rewarded for this!" Mondo promised fervently, staring now at the Blue Psycho Ranger. "No machine could have done better!"

That was when Archerina acted. Summoning her bow from its other dimensional storage space, she shot an arrow of light at King Mondo, breaking her chain in the process with no apparent effort.

The rotund monarch reacted with commendable speed, lifting his hand and bringing a transparent forcefield into being; Justin certainly hadn't known he could do _that_! Yet the arrow passed through it, striking him in the chest.

Gasket lurched to his feet, moving forward so that he stood directly in front of his father.

"Please, father, forgive me for following my heart! Please accept me again as your son and heir!" Gasket importuned, and there seemed to be real emotion in his voice.

The only biological being in the chamber realized he was holding his breath as he waited for King Mondo's reaction. With a thought he summoned his Psycho Axe, ready to strike if need be.

"Of course, my son! I am so glad to have you home!" King Mondo announced, deactivating the forcefield, descending from his throne to snap Prince Gasket's chains in two and then embracing his son.

Justin quietly slipped away down the corridor, leaving them to their reunion. It had worked! It had worked! Stopping for a moment, the Blue Psycho Ranger stood and gloried in his triumph! The Galactic League of Light was as good as finished! Soon the galaxy would belong to the UAE and before the year was out . . . the UAE would belong to Justin!

He continued down the corridor, relieved beyond measure that he hadn't needed to use the back-up plan he'd come up with on the spur of the moment. If the arrow hadn't worked, he had intended to strike down both Gasket and Archerina from behind, before they could do anything else. He would have apologized profusely to King Mondo for having brought unsecured prisoners before him, and then he would have gone back to the ship and had Darkonda assume Gasket's form.

Whether that appearance would have been enough to get Gasket's forces to obey the mercenary was a question which would happily never need to be answered now.

There was Darkonda, waiting outside the ship, a scowl on his hideous face.

"It worked," Justin gloated aloud as he approached. "We're going to have Prince Gasket's forces to add to our own. The UAE-"

That was when he broke off, because something had caught him from behind in a bear hug! A quick glance down showed nothing visible, yet he could feel the compressing force! Summoning up all the incredible strength his morphed state bestowed upon him, he broke free and whirled to confront . . . nothing!

A swift roundhouse punch at head height cut through the air, meeting no resistance. Then the unseen enemy seized him around the waist! He pressed down on what felt like a pair of armored shoulders. Was this Kat? But why would she be attacking him here?

"Darkonda, help me!" he called back over his shoulder.

The alien had taken a few steps forward, but he wasn't moving now. Under Justin's furious gaze the alien mercenary's arms dropped to his side. He did nothing but smirk and wink as he laughed.

Then Justin was being teleported, to somewhere very close by given how brief the trip was. Rematerializing so unexpectedly soon he needed to take a second to get his bearings-and that was a second too long.

The invisible thing holding him released his waist and a massive shove sent him tumbling back onto some sort of raised, circular platform. As he scrambled to his feet there was a sharp, unpleasant cracking sound.

And then the Blue Psycho Ranger involuntarily demorphed.

In disbelief he started down at his tanned hands and wrists, his Psycho Morpher still attached to his right one. Glancing around he saw another large, circular platform above his head, and behind him there was a four foot-wide, square green pillar of metal which connected the two, like a capital E missing its central strut.

Even in the midst of his growing panic the seventeen year-old's brilliant mind reached the only conclusion which made sense. He was inside a forcefield, one powerful to block the transmission of energy to his Psycho Morpher. He couldn't remorph, he couldn't teleport away, he couldn't do ANYTHING!

As he looked forward again his attacker shimmered into view: the Phantom Ranger!

Justin's assailant turned without a word, going to the pilot's chair of the ship they were in, one even smaller than Darkonda's. Leaning over the console the Phantom Ranger depressed a button.

"Billy, this is the Phantom Ranger. I've done it! I've captured the Blue Psycho Ranger in your forcefield generator! Be ready, I'm bringing him straight to you."

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	8. Chapter 8

Revised update schedule: My sincere apologies, but I've found my original update schedule impossible to maintain. From now on I will try to update every three weeks, but I'm afraid I can make no promises. Again, I'm sorry and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

ΩΩΩΩΩ

"Planetary sensors were able to verify that there had been an extremely brief teleportation, but it appeared to terminate in empty space outside of the planet's atmosphere. There must have been a cloaked ship there, just as the attacker himself was cloaked. There was no trail to follow, so I came at once to personally report to you," Darkonda finished smoothly.

Beyond the transparent pane of the Dark Fortress' command room window, the Grand Emperor of Evil seemed to be deep in thought. Minutes passed before at last he spoke.

"Yet his mission was accomplished before the abduction?"

"The reunification of the Royal House of Gadgetry is complete! Prince Gasket is even now returning to Horath to gather and lead his fleet in support of the UAE."

What might have been a smile passed over Dark Specter's craggy, black-rock visage.

"Good. The remaining Psycho Rangers will be more than a match for what's left of the Light Rangers. Still, I shall not allow the Galactic League hold a Psycho Ranger in captivity! Your new task, Darkonda, is to use your skills as a spy and infiltrator to locate the Blue Psycho Ranger. If you can free him yourself, do so! If not, report his location and its defenses to me."

"Yes, my lord. I will scour every asteroid in the galaxy if need be to find him!" Darkonda swore, dropping to one knee in a show of fealty.

Though it proved an exceedingly difficult task, the treacherous mercenary somehow managed to keep from laughing until he was safely back aboard his ship.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

For a time Delphine and Cassie sat together without speaking, the only sound that of the nearby waves crashing down upon the rocky shore far below. To Delpine it was a soothing, familiar sound, a welcome reminder of how close at hand water was, the lifeblood of all Aquitans.

To Cassie, an electronic android, the sound was much less comforting. Thus it was perhaps not surprising that she spoke first, giving voice to her anxiety.

"What if the others can't find Dulcea?" she asked. "What if . . . what if she's died since Billy came here?"

Aurico was the team's tactician, but the White Aquitan Ranger was the overall leader of the Light Rangers. She would be the one to set the course on the larger matters.

"Billy told us about the monolith. If Dulcea cannot aid us," Delphine paused for breath, her head tilted to the side as was so common with the Aquitans. "Then we will journey toward it nonetheless."

"We can do nothing else," the White Aquitan Ranger admitted, directly and forthrightly, and eventually Cassie nodded in agreement.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Justin was bouncing around, hopping from one large rock to the next as they scouted the area. Being cooped up in that ship for so long had obviously been a trial for him and T.J. was relieved to see at least a trace of his fellow Ranger's high spirits returning, although such movements looked odd indeed for an apparent adult of Justin's size.

Besides, it wasn't like Justin was neglecting their task; in spite of his rather erratic motion the way his helmet craned back and forth constantly suggested his focus remained on searching for any sign of this planet's Master Warrior. Once they'd found her they could begin the real journey to claim the Great Power, a trial which he was very eager to undertake.

Unlike undoubtedly the vast majority of the previous challengers who had come to this planet, T.J. held no fear whatsoever for his own continued existence. This lack was neither because he was a robot nor because of his saved memories and personality in the machine back on Aquitar; rather it was because any such fear of mortality was crowded out by a much more terrifying fear.

The fear of failure.

T.J. knew that the human T.J. had failed. He had failed to stop the Psycho Rangers from killing his friends, he had failed to turn back the United Alliance of Evil's horde from Earth, and he had failed to save Zordon.

He didn't hate his human self for that, because he knew that in the original T.J.'s place he would have done exactly the same things. How could he not have? They were basically the same person.

He would have failed too.

T.J. didn't know if his fellow androids felt same weight of guilt and responsibility as he did; he hoped not, but it was something the Robot Rangers had never once talked about. All he knew was that he felt driven to make up for the mistakes he would have made in T.J.'s place, to set things to right again in the galaxy. And he would fight to his last volt of power to do just that.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

"Where is she?" Tideus asked in aggravated frustration.

So far he and Aurico had been walking for what seemed like forever and they had yet to detect even the slightest sign of their quarry's presence.

Well, "quarry" wasn't exactly the right word; it wasn't like they were hunting her down to kill her. They just had to talk with her and have her do that animal spirit thing.

Assuming it was really necessary. They could probably pass this trial without it. They weren't just fighting for themselves, after all, or even for the galaxy: they were fighting to avenge Corcus and Cestro!

His longtime friends and teammates, gone like that! And it had happened so fast, at least for Corcus. Cestro had gone slower, in terrible pain as he clung desperately to his life . . .

No! He wouldn't think about that anymore! He had to concentrate not on mourning his friends, but on _avenging_ them! Once they had the Great Power, the Psycho Rangers were finally going to die! And they wouldn't get to go quickly, as Corcus had!

'Tideus' he heard in his mind as Aurico laid a hand on his right shoulder. 'I know the pain you feel. We _all_ feel it! The loss of Cestro and Corcus is a wound from which we will never fully heal. Yet you must not let their deaths lead you down the path of vengeance; neither of them would have wanted that. We will destroy the Psycho Rangers not for what they have done to us, but because they are a threat to all who live, and we the defenders of life.'

Aurico was making sense, yet part of Tideus didn't want to hear it. He jerked away from his teammate's physical touch and then broke their mental connection.

"I know, all right?" he asked belligerently. "I just want to find this Dulcea so we can get the Great Power and get out of here!"

"Almost all of those who have come here seeking the Great Power have died," a voice called from behind them in the English language.

Whirling around Tideus and Aurico beheld a black-clad figure less than six feet away, the open hood of its robe concealing the face within-and holding a spear in his right hand. How had he managed to get this close without either of them hearing him, Tideus wondered as he unsheathed his sword only a second and a half behind Aurico's blindingly fast draw.

"But the first part of your wish has been granted," the figure continued, seeming completely unruffled by the sudden pulling of weapons from her audience.

"You seek Dulcea? You have found her."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

A fierce wave of excitement swept through the teenage Gold Psycho Ranger when he received the message to report to the main hangar bay.

Back in the resistance similar orders had almost always preceded a call to action, and the same was probably true here. Fred wanted action, wanted to show again what he could do and take out the simmering anger within him on someone.

And unless the GLL had been stupid enough to launch a ground assault on the Alliance, action meant that Justin had completed his mission and returned! That was even better news than the prospect of being able to slaughter a legion or two of the enemy!

Fred had always been able to endure downtime before, but a big part of his ability to endure had been founded on spending such time with his friends. Here he had no friends except Justin, and he had missed the brown-haired boy more than he would willingly admit.

The thought of being together again with his buddy, the two of them killing ass and not bothering to take any names, nearly led the Gold Psycho Ranger to go at blur mode down the hall. Wisely he refrained from doing so, thus sparing countless Quantrons and undoubtedly a fellow Psycho Ranger or two.

At least sparing them for now. As he strode briskly down the hallway the teenager sneered under his helmet, happily anticipating the day when he would gut Tommy and at the very least beat hell out of the others-except for Justin, of course.

The massive hangar was filled to capacity with ships, Quantrons, and a motley collection of monsters and mercenaries. Everyone capable of it was standing at attention. Fred walked up to where the Pink, Green and Yellow Psycho Rangers stood at the head of the column, near the closed bay doors and took his place, though with a slight and conscious distance from the back-stabbers.

Facing this gathering of the UAE's military might was Astronema, the Princess of Darkness.

Another Ranger made his way to the front, and to Fred's disappointment it was Tommy.

Where was Justin? The Gold Psycho Ranger wondered impatiently. Was he going to come in with Gasket?

Astronmea raised her arms and shouted, "Victory for the United Alliance of Evil is at hand! Today we begin the final campaign to institute our rule across the galaxy! The prodigal son of the Machine Empire, Prince Gasket, has returned to his father! With his fleet now at our disposal the Galactic Alliance of Light ships are outnumbered and outgunned! You will all be present among our invasion forces, but it is the Pyscho Rangers who will spearhead the planetary offensives. Obey their orders and prove your worth as soldiers! If you do, then by this time next year the not a single world will still claim allegiance to the League! Forward, to the United Alliance of Evil's glorious future!" she shouted, and a rousing cheer greeted her words. Even the Quantrons made some kind of oscillating noise which Fred assumed was their version of cheering.

With her hangar-wide address finished Astronema drew close to the Pyscho Rangers, while numerous officer Quantrons circulated amongst everyone else, handing out assignments.

"You'll be stationed on the _Envenomed Blade_," she told them, "and you'll be leading every invasion. If the Light Rangers dare to show their helmets, make sure they don't escape again!" she commanded.

"They won't," Tommy hissed. As Astronema turned to go Fred could restrain himself no longer.

"When will Justin be back with us?" he questioned again. Facing him Astronema seemed confused by the question. She was number two in charge in the entire freaking Alliance, shouldn't she know Justin's na-

Oh.

"I mean, when will the Blue Psycho Ranger be back?" he corrected himself.

"He was abducted by an invisible attacker at King Mondo's palace. We don't know where he's been taken, but Darkonda will find out."

WHAT?! Justin gone, just like that? How was that even _possible_?

"I can help Darkonda find him," Fred offered almost before the Princess had finished speaking.

Now her expression had become one of disdain. "You are the most powerful of the Psycho Rangers," she told him curtly. "You need to be on the front lines, attacking the points of greatest resistance. You're not a spy or a detective, you're a weapon. Don't try to be anything more."

She turned and walked away from him, unaware of how close she came to having the back of her head caved in by Fred's staff. Fortunately for her he'd had a lot of practice controlling his temper lately, so he was once again able to resist the urge he felt to kill.

They shouldn't have one person looking for Justin, Fred fumed to himself; they should have thousands! It was only because of Justin that the UAE was able to get Prince Gasket on its side in the first place! He had taken the impossible assignment Dark Specter had given him and he had _completed_ it! Finding and rescuing him should be the Alliance's top priority!

Caught up in his rage and indignation on his only friend's behalf, it took Fred a moment to realize that the other Pyscho Rangers had already walked away. They hadn't expressed any concern for Justin at all!

That was it. Tommy wouldn't be the only Psycho Ranger to die after Justin returned.

And he _would_ return. Fred had to believe that. Whoever had abducted him had wanted him alive, otherwise they would have killed him on the spot. The GLL was the most likely suspect, but not the only one. The kidnapping could have been done by any one of the UAE's luminaries. He simply had no way of knowing.

Whoever was responsible, Fred would eventually find them, no matter how long it took or how much effort. He would find them, free Justin, and destroy the Blue Psycho Ranger's captors.

That was a promise.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Aurico radioed the others and let them know that he and Tideus had found Dulcea-or rather, that _Dulcea_ had found _them_.

Once they'd made it back to the ruins they had to wait only a few moments more for Justin and T.J. to arrive. The surviving Light Rangers stood in a group before Dulcea. As a sign of respect, Delphine removed her helmet prior to speaking to the Master Warrior of Phaedos.

In response she cast off her all-concealing hooded cloak, revealing what appeared to be a young human woman in her early twenties, with long, curly brown hair. She wore a circlet of leather and had on a leather codpiece, boots, and brassiere, leaving little of her taut, tanned body to the imagination.

She was exactly as Billy had described her. There was no question that this was indeed Dulcea.

"Dulcea, we are the Light Rangers, the last group of Rangers still fighting against the United Alliance of Evil. Billy sent us here to seek the Great Power, in order that we may safeguard what remains of the free galaxy," Delphine stated forthrightly.

"_Billy_ sent you? Are you not under the command of Zordon, as Billy himself was when he came here?" Dulcea asked pointedly.

Delphine bowed her head. "I am sorry to be the bearer of sad tidings. Zordon . . . Zordon is dead, murdered at the claw of Dark Specter."

"Zordon, _dead_? Are you certain?" Dulcea demanded, her beautiful face now a picture of shocked grief. She looked at the Light Rangers one by one, almost pleadingly, but none of them stepped forth to contradict their leader's assertion.

"We are sure," Delphine assured her. "He fell two years ago. It was his death which enabled Billy to unite the free planets into the Galactic League of Light, the only opposition to Dark Specter's alliance."

Dulcea turned away from the White Aquitan Ranger, looking out to the ocean, her shoulders shaking slightly. Delphine had a good idea as to why and neither she nor the other Light Rangers intruded on Dulcea's mourning.

When Dulcea eventually turned back toward them her face was dry, but there was a new anguish visible in her eyes.

"So Billy believes you can complete the quest for the Great Power?"

Delphine nodded. "He does. That we do so is the galaxy's only remaining hope. Otherwise we cannot stand against the Psycho Rangers."

"Who are these Psycho Rangers?"

"They appear to be evil Rangers who serve the United Alliance of Evil. What they truly are none of us know, but they have already killed four of us," Delphine confessed.

Dulcea nodded. "You must go. I will aid you all I can. First, give me your morphers."

"Why?" Delphine asked, head cocked to one side.

"You cannot seek the Great Power through using the Power," Dulcea explained impatiently. "You have to relinquish all connection to the Morphin Grid before beginning your ordeal. You must rely on your own strength of mind and body, not on the enhancements offered to Rangers."

Slowly Delphine demorphed and surrendered her morpher to the Master Warrior. The others did likewise and Dulcea's pained eyes widened.

"Aquitans and humans, merged in one team?" she asked curiously.

"Actually we're androids with copies of human minds and personalities," the now much shorter Justin put in.

Dulcea started violently, staring at the Robot Rangers.

"What's wrong?" T.J. wanted to know, not liking that reaction one bit.

Slowly Dulcea shook her head. "In all my centuries here, only living beings have come to seek the Great Power. I do not know if machines are even capable of receiving it."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Billy had a space cleared out in his private lab well before the Phantom Ranger arrived with his cargo.

His decision to pull the Phantom Ranger out and send him to capture the Blue Psycho Ranger had been far from an easy one. Many times the information that Phantom had been able to overhear while cloaked in the Dark Fortress had been of vital importance. To cite only one example, if not for his efforts the Light Rangers would have had to face the Psycho Zords in battle rather than detecting and blowing them up while they were still under construction.

Now, with the Galactic League at such a disadvantage, good intelligence was more valuable than ever. Nevertheless Billy had chosen to throw the dice, to gamble what he had in the hopes of gaining yet more.

In one respect it had worked. The Blue Psycho Ranger was safely trapped in "Cestro". He had hoped against hope that being deprived of the dark Ranger power would actually kill the being, but according to Phantom's report he was still alive.

Billy had long puzzled over what exactly the Psycho Rangers _were_. Were they Finster-created monsters? Advanced androids produced by the Machine Empire? Interstellar mercenaries such as Darkonda? For the entire span of the war with the UAE their true nature had remained frustratingly enigmatic.

In all of his time on the Dark Fortress Phantom had never once observed any of the Psycho Rangers in a demorphed state. Perhaps he would of if he had dared try to infiltrate their living quarters, but his orders had strictly forbidden him to pursue such a course of action. The Psycho Ranger rooms were too small, the chances of being detected far too great. His cloaking power hid him from the normal visual spectrum, but it didn't render him intangible. He could still be bumped into and found out that way. For that matter, the scanners operating the automatic doors in the Dark Fortress were still able to detect him. If the UAE ever realized he was in their sanctum sanctorum they could very easily make it impossible for him to remain there.

The sight of something invisible grappling with the Blue Pyscho Ranger might well have blown that secret, yet it would have been worth it if the evil Ranger had been abducted in time to prevent him from engineering a rapprochement between the Machine Empire's monarch and his estranged son.

Catastrophically, that appeared not to be the case. Long range sensors showed that almost Prince Gasket's entire fleet was moving toward the border zone between the United Alliance of Evil and the Galactic League of Light. Admiral Telan and the rest of the fleet were in for the fight of their lives, and a fight for the lives of everyone within the GLL.

There was nothing he could do about that now, but the Blue Psycho Ranger was another matter altogether. He would study the creature, determine its true nature and, one way or another, separate the prisoner from its morpher. With a Psycho Ranger morpher to disassemble and test, who knew what he might be able to accomplish against them?

The airlock on the roof irised open and nothing seemed to emerge from it. The whoosh of air as the Phantom Ranger's invisible ship landed in the Rangers' private bay, however, betrayed its arrival.

As the vessel became visible the Phantom Ranger emerged from a hatch at the front. He jumped down and began speaking before the Rangers' mentor could.

"Billy, I'm so sorry," he apologized. "When I reached Horath they were already gone. I headed straight for the Machine Empire capital, but by the time I got there it was too late."

"It's not your fault," the young genius reassured the Ranger. "You did everything you could. In fact you did something no one else has ever done before: You captured a Psycho Ranger!"

His words seemed relieve the Phantom Ranger, who stood slightly straighter. "I did, but he's not at all what I expected."

"What do you mean?" Billy queried. Could the Psycho Rangers be some form of blob creature, perhaps a secret creation of the late, unlamented Ivan Ooze?

"I would have expected him to be pounding on the forcefield and screaming at me the whole way here. Instead he sat down cross-legged and he hasn't said a word since I captured him."

"Cross-legged? He's humanoid then?"

"Definitely," the Phantom Ranger confirmed. "Let me show him to you."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Justin Stewart truly hadn't said a word since his capture. With the exception of Fred, any other Pyscho Ranger would indeed have spent the journey hammering fruitlessly at the force field, bellowing threats and curses.

Justin, with his considerably more stable neural net, had wasted no time in such useless theatrics. Instead he had sat down and thought.

Justin had been scared many times before. When his mother had died. When his father had left him in the Little Angel's shelter for months at a time. When he'd accepted the responsibility of being a Power Ranger. When he'd first seen those horrible monsters on the Ghost Galleon. When they'd fought Maligore. When they'd lost their powers and the Command Center had been destroyed around them.

This, however, was the first time in his life that Justin Stewart had ever been completely and absolutely terrified.

A line from one of his favorite books as a kid kept coming back to him, over and over again: "For he knew his deadly peril, and the thread upon which his doom now hung."

It had been written in regards to the Dark Lord Sauron at the end of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but it was just as true for Justin now.

Had he thought it would be better to die than to go back to being a mindlessly aggressive Psycho Ranger? Had he really? That would have been a fate far preferable to the one which likely awaited him now.

He was thankful beyond measure that he had been given a completely interior neural net, one which left no outward marks. That gave him at least the illusion of a chance. Because once they learned of his neural net . . .

They would neutralize it. They would think they were "saving" him, when in reality they would be damning him to the deepest pit of Hell, for the rest of his existence.

He reflected briefly on everyone he'd killed, everyone he had maimed, and then he tried to think of what it would be like to _care_ about all of that, to once again be able to feel guilt and shame and regret.

He couldn't do it. It was too much. Even his vivid imagination couldn't conjure up the amount of mental torment and anguish he would be in if they took away his neural net.

He couldn't face going back to what he'd been, not now, not after everything he had done! Anything, ANYTHING, else would be better!

For much of the trip the seventeen year-old had therefore seriously contemplated suicide, just as Fred had when Justin had told him what was coming. He had thought of taking off and jamming his now-useless morpher down his own throat, ironically choking to death on the source of his power. The temptation to do it had been real.

In the end, however, he'd chosen another path. He sat here, alone, cut off from the Power, with no one on his side of the war knowing where he was. He was undoubtedly being delivered to the chief of the UAE's enemies and he had been stripped of virtually every weapon he possessed save his most dangerous one: his mind.

He wasn't a ravenous, slavering beast like the other original Turbos; he was a genius! He could be patient, observe his surroundings and captors, think logically, plan rationally, and be ready to seize any opportunity that came along or which he could create.

He was Justin Stewart, Blue Psycho Ranger and aspiring Emperor of Evil. He would not go down without a fight.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Pushing from behind Phantom brought "Cestro" down the ramp. Normally it would be impossible for one person, even a Ranger, to move the machine, which was why Billy had constructed it with an anti-grav unit installed in its base.

Peering through the transparent forcefield Billy Cranston got his first look at a demorphed Psycho Ranger.

He wasn't just humanoid; as far as Billy could tell, he was a human! He sat cross-legged in the center of the platform, his head bowed. He was dressed in cerulean sneakers, blue jeans and a dark, form-fitting royal blue T-shirt. He was extremely well-built and Billy guessed taller than himself. His hair was a straight, light brown and hid his face from view.

"Look at me," Billy ordered sternly.

The head raised itself, bringing into view below those brown bangs a young, well-formed, handsome face which looked to be about eighteen.

There was something disturbingly familiar about him, Billy realized as he continued to stare at their captive. But what was it? He needed to figure it out; even the smallest addition to their base of knowledge could turn out to be of vital importance. This young man reminded him of someone, reminded him of . . .

Billy sucked in his breath with a gasp. He felt light-headed and might have fallen if the Phantom Ranger hadn't been there to steady him. He gaped at their prisoner and a single disbelieving word stuttered past his lips.

"J-Justin?!"

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	9. Chapter 9

One thought managed to make its way out of the midst of Billy's bewildered shock and confusion: he had to buy time now. He couldn't begin things this way; an interrogator had to seem in total control of himself and the situation at all times, and right now his lack thereof was all too obvious.

"Take the prisoner to my lab," Billy ordered the Phantom Ranger loudly, proud of how steady his voice managed to sound. The Eltarian hero nodded and went back around to the control panel, pushing the device out into the hall and leaving Billy to try to collect himself.

Billy had hypothesized many times over the years about what exactly lay beneath the Psycho Ranger's helmets, and while the idea of human beings was one of the top possibilities he had considered, he had never once imagined that one of them might actually be a human he knew!

No, _not_ a human he knew! He knew the Robot Ranger Justin Stewart. This Justin was someone he'd never met before, and moreover was guilty of multiple crimes against galactic civilization.

Yet the Robot Ranger's personality and memories had been drawn directly from this Justin's psyche at the age of thirteen. The two of them had essentially been the same person when his Justin was created, and Billy could not imagine any possible chain of events which would lead the Justin he knew to betray the Rangers and go over to the side of darkness.

Granted, his judgment might be clouded by his feelings for the Robot Ranger version of Justin, but then it wasn't just his own judgment he was relying on in this case: it was Zordon's!

Zordon himself had deemed Justin worthy of becoming a Power Ranger at the tender age of twelve. In fact, out of all the hundreds of Rangers the multi-dimensional being had personally selected over the millennia, Justin Stewart had been the very last. Justin was Zordon's final Ranger, and had there been the slightest doubt about his character he never would have received that honor.

And if Justin hadn't betrayed the Rangers willingly, then he must have done so against his will! A spell, like the one Rita had used on Tommy to make him her Green Ranger!

That would explain everything!

With Justin indeed operating under a spell, the other Psycho Rangers likely were as well! If the Light Rangers could break it, free the Psycho Ranger's from evil's control, as he and his friends had done for Tommy and each other in the past, then this war would be as good as won!

Billy fought back the rising tide of euphoria which threatened to engulf him. He was going much too far on mere speculation, on a completely unverified hypothesis. He needed to establish the actual facts, thoroughly, methodically, like the scientist he was. And that was exactly what he would do.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

As his high-tech mobile prison was conveyed down the corridor Justin was deep in his own thoughts. He too had been surprised, not expecting that Billy (and it _must_ have been Billy) would recognize him from his android duplicate's thirteen year-old facial features.

It was a lucky break, one which would facilitate the cover story he had chosen to tell, the only one he could tell under these circumstances.

Only about a hundred feet down the hall an automatic door opened to the left, which led into a room pleasingly reminiscent of the Power Chamber; another lucky break!

He was subsequently taken through another door in the right wall, into a much larger space filled with all manner of devices and machines strewn across half a dozen circular tables. As Justin's cage was carefully maneuvered toward the center of the vast chamber he caught sight of Mertori crystals attached to power capacitors, what appeared to be a lightwave diffusion apparatus of some sort, a sonic screwdriver, spheres of presumably pure beryllium and iridium, a miniature plasma torch, and a large chair with an overhead attached headband and an accompanying storage core on the floor to its right. It looked almost identical to the device which had been used to copy his memories and thought patterns for his Robot Ranger.

Once in the rough center of the room, the forcefield generator control side was spun so it faced the only door, thus blocking Justin's view of that half of the room, and the anti-grav generator shut off. He heard the door swoosh open again right after this and when no other sound followed he guessed that the Phantom Ranger had left the room.

At first he was surprised that they would simply leave him alone, but then why wouldn't they? What could he possibly do while imprisoned within this forcefield?

He had already surreptitiously examined the interior of his prison, of course. Now he did so in earnest, studying every square inch and finding exactly what he expected to find: nothing.

There were no visible design flaws to exploit, no seeming weak points to try to take advantage of. The floor and ceiling were solid metal, and the gap in each through which the forcefield was projected and received was razor-thin. Even if the forcefield was shut off, he had nothing which could reach the generator or receiver through that miniscule gap in the metal.

The complete integrity of the forcefield itself was proven by the absence of his Ranger powers. Usually it was no problem for the signal to reach the Morpher through forcefields; it took a specially-designed energy field to block the transmission.

Justin had to take his hat off to Billy, figuratively speaking. Like most of his fellow genius' creations, this was one was a work of art, technological perfection in actual practice rather than mere theory.

Oh, how he longed to smash his hands through those stupid glasses and gouge the fair-haired young man's eyes out of their sockets, right before pulping them in his fists!

If he was ever to have that wonderful pleasure, though, he had to escape from here. And the first and most important step in doing that was to do everything in his power to verbally persuade Billy not to drop this forcefield for even a second.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

"Billy, are you all right?" the Phantom Ranger asked as he encountered his mentor in the hall.

"I'm fine now," he assured the other. "It's just—I never expected that one of the Psycho Rangers would be Justin!"

"Are you sure it's him? Maybe it just looks like our Justin would if he could age."

Billy paused, thinking hard.

"I'm sure that he's either Justin or something modeled on Justin. He could a clone, a magical duplicate, or even another android! I won't know for sure until I can examine him."

"How are you going to do that, though? If you shut down the forcefield his powers will come back."

"The field still permits the passage of air. I've requested a knock-out gas which should be safe to use on humans. If it doesn't affect him, that'll tell us something in itself," Billy explained as they passed back into the Command Chamber.

"Should be safe to use on humans? Don't you know?"

"No," Billy admitted. "It's never been tested on a human before."

"What if isn't safe?" the Eltarian inquired.

Billy turned to look directly into the Phantom Ranger's visor, a bleak yet almost maniacally determined look on his face.

"Then we'll learn what we can from the autopsy," he answered, turning and going back into his workshop.

Circling around "Cestro" he found the Justin lookalike still sitting cross-legged in the center of the circle. Slowly he looked up and locked eyes with Billy.

"Please, I know I don't have a right to ask for anything, but PLEASE kill me without dropping this forcefield!" the teen pleaded.

That wasn't what Billy had expected.

"Why do you think we're going to kill you?"

"Why wouldn't you?!" the teen demanded heatedly. "Do you think I can't remember what's happened? I know exactly what I've done and I deserve to die!"

"What have you done?"

"Don't," the captive implored tiredly, dropping his head again. "Don't make me say it all. I've killed beings beyond counting. I've helped devastate entire worlds! I aided in the conquest of Earth and then I went back there a couple months ago so I could find and kill my friends in order to smash the last real human resistance. I've done enough evil in these past two years to outweigh all the good I've done in my life a million times over! "

That was where the Blue Psycho Ranger had been while he was off their radar? On Earth? But which friends was he talking about?

"What friends did you kill back on Earth?"

"T.J. and Cassie," he answered, confirming Billy's fears. "Then I took Fred with me from the resistance so he could become the Gold Psycho Ranger."

So the Blue Psycho Ranger was at least in part responsible for the Gold Psycho Ranger! He should have guessed that.

"How is that possible?" he demanded. "The Gold powers don't mesh well with humans."

"Dark Specter changed them," he whispered, head still down. "I thought Divatox was bad back when we were fighting her, but Dark Specter . . . he's so much worse!"

He drew up his knees to his chest, embracing them as he shuddered.

Billy simply watched him for a moment, nonplussed by how the interrogation had proceeded thus far. Whatever he had trapped here was certainly giving the verbal cues that it was Justin, but whether that was true was another question entirely.

At the moment the crushed, cooperative demeanor being displayed was the mystery uppermost in Billy's mind. His prisoner was not _acting_ like a Psycho Ranger anymore! As Phantom had observed, he should have been pounding on that forcefield and screaming his head off. The Psycho Rangers were aptly named; several times their near-beserker rage and bloodlust had been taken advantage of by the Light Rangers. This Justin should have been almost literally frothing at the mouth by now, but apparently he'd been calm and quiet the whole way here. He was acting like he'd just come to his senses, like he'd been under a spell for all this time.

Billy had gotten much more experience than he'd ever wanted with mind-altering spells during his time as a Ranger, and he could testify personally as to their effectiveness, but not to their duration; two years was an unbelievably long time for such an enchantment to remain in place.

There was one easy way to test "Justin's" sincerity, and it was time to employ it.

"Justin, I want you to take off your Morpher and give it to me."

An expression of stark terror came over the teen's face. "No, don't deactivate the forcefield, please! If you do the spell will reach me again and I'll go back to thinking like a Psycho Ranger!"

Could the forcefield be cutting Justin off from whatever spell had been controlling him? It seemed possible, but then he was an expert in technology, not magic; he couldn't really judge the veracity of that claim.

What he could do, however, was show his prisoner a way for Billy to get the Morpher without taking down the forcefield for more than a fraction of a second.

Walking back to the control panel he pressed the appropriate button and the bottom inch of the platform spiraled outward, creating an extra space of about a foot beyond the initial edge of the circle of metal. Another button pressed and field generator shifted from sending the field to the edge of the extended circle rather than the interior circle.

Walking back around to face Justin he found the boy looking around wide-eyed at the unexpected innovation.

"Put your Morpher in the outer ring," Billy instructed. "Then I'll shift the forcefield back to the inner ring."

Again Justin hesitated. "You're not going to wear it, are you? The spell operates without it, but I think using it might amplify the spell's effects. I don't know what it'll do to you"

"I won't wear it," Billy assured him, and waited for the moment of truth.

Justin unstrapped the Morpher and placed it in the outer ring, jerking back the moment he let it go. Returning to the controls, Billy warned, "Make sure your hands are inside!"

After giving his prisoner a few seconds to react he switched the forcefield back to the inner ring, walked over, and picked up the Blue Psycho Morpher.

It was a glossy black and was sleeker, longer, and more slender than the Morphers he was used to. He had never expected to be holding one of these, not unless the Light Rangers had taken it off a Psycho corpse. He'd assumed any one of them would willingly die before handing over the source of their power.

Justin still sat huddled, hugging his legs and looking miserable. Was he telling the truth? Had he really been under a spell which was now being blocked by the forcefield? If so, who or what was generating the magic? With Tommy it had been the Sword of Darkness; was this-

The scream of a siren cut off Billy's thoughts. Justin looked up and around, asking frantically, fearfully, "Is it the other Psycho Rangers? Have they come after me?!"

"Wait here," Billy told him, realizing a second too late the utter idiocy of that particular command under these circumstances.

The Phantom Ranger, who'd been waiting silently and invisibly by the door this entire time as a precaution, became visible and stepped aside as Billy ran into the Command Chamber, the precious Psycho Morpher still clenched in his right hand.

The Viewing Globe was flashing red, and Billy hit the switch to open the communication channel with whoever was trying to contact him. The siren fell silent and the visage of Major Tsruk, one of Admiral Telan's chief aides, filled the globe.

"Sir, the UAE has just attacked the border in force! We're rushing reinforcement ships there now, but even so the Admiral doesn't think we can hold the line for long! I was ordered to inform you of what was happening, and to get an estimate of how long it will be before the remaining Light Rangers return."

Billy's mind raced back to his own time on Phaedos, to the length of the trip on foot to the monolith.

"At least another day and a half," he informed the Major. "As soon as they're finished I'll have them teleport back and they'll go straight into battle."

"Yes, sir," Tsurek replied, his expression saying as clearly as words could that this was too long.

About to disconnect, Billy stopped as an idea struck him. "Major, I don't want to take you from your duties, but keep this line open. I may have usable tactical information for you within the hour."

Major Tsurek's face brightened as Billy whirled around and reentered his workship at a run. Snatching up his recorder from one of the tables he switched it on and skidded to a stop in front of Cestro.

"You want to make up for what you've done?" he demanded from a clearly jolted Justin. "Then you're going to tell me everything you can about the flaws and weaknesses of UAE ships, and you're going to do it right now!"

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Dulcea's verbal bombshell had plunged the Rangers back into silent gloom, even as the light of day retreated over the horizon. If three of their number couldn't receive the Great Power, then they would stand little chance against the six Psycho Rangers.

Now they stood around a fire Dulcea had lit in the center of the ruins. Billy had said this ritual would involve the calling of their spirit animals. Dulcea had informed them that if the remaining Robot Rangers were unable to manifest a Spirit Animal, there was no point in them going and indeed they would be barred from even seeking the Great Power.

Slowly Dulcea approached the fire.

"Deep within is a Spirit Animal, waiting to be awakened. Close your eyes and look within yourself."

All of the Rangers followed her instructions. Unseen by any eyes, Dulcea tossed in a handful of crystalline blue powder, and the flames shot up to quadruple their previous height, creating for one instant a great pillar of fire!

From the apex of the pillar emerged a cloud of shimmering blue shards, which descended to engulf the six Rangers.

"Open your eyes," Dulcea commanded, and when they obeyed they found their clothing had changed. Each was now clad in a lightweight fabric of their Ranger color, which encased them from their toes to the hoods on their head. All had gained gauntlets of what felt like light plastic, shoulder guards, belts and boots. In the center of each of their chests was affixed a golden insignia of an animal.

"Tideus," Dulcea said smiling, "fast and fearless, you are the Tiger Shark."

"Cassie, light of touch and sweet of song, you are the Nightingale."

"Justin, intelligent and playful, you are the Dolphin."

"T.J., strong and enduring, you are the Rhinoceros."

"Aurico, battle-tested and deadly, you are the Orca."

"And Delphine, wise and pure, you are the Unicorn."

"Why aren't we animals from our own world?" Tideus asked, a little put out.

"I don not know, but speak not ill of your spirits! You will need them if you hope to reach your goal."

"Well, let's get going," Tideus urged, only to have Dulcea shake her head.

"You seek the Light, and should not begin your quest in darkness. Rest now, and wait for the dawn before you leave to find the Great Power."

The Ranger's glanced at each other, though the hoods hid much of their expressions. Could they afford to wait? Could they afford not to?

"Thank you, Dulcea," Delphine said gravely. "We will do as you counsel."

"May the Power protect you!" Dulcea invoked. Then, with a shimmer, she transformed into a small white owl and took wing, flying up and out of sight.

"Are you sure we shouldn't go now?" T.J. asked cautiously.

"I am sure we should heed Dulcea's words," Delphine replied. "Did not Billy tell us that? She would not lead us astray."

When even Tideus nodded his assent, Delphine continued.

"We must go and try to take sustenance from the waters here," Delphine said, gesturing toward the ocean. "Rest and conserve your energy," she told her non-Aquitan comrades. "We depart at dawn's first light."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

With a growl Fred discharged a golden bolt from the tip of his staff, vaporizing a large hole through the chest of the soldier aiming at him from the twenty-foot tree branch. Then he went into blur mode and flashed behind the makeshift barrier of felled trees to his left, knocking asunder five Eltarians just as they were moving a tripod-mounted laser cannon position. Laying about him with his staff he dispatched all five before any one of them could even fire a weapon.

All around the forest the sound of screaming, weapon discharges, and explosions resounded, covering up the quiet crackle of the growing flames.

Well, have a laser fight in a forest and what did you expect?

They could teleport away from the fire if need be, but Barok's inhabitants wouldn't be so lucky. They'd fled into the surrounding forest in the first place because they hadn't been able to be evacuated before the GLL ships were driven back.

So far the UAE offensive had not been the overwhelming success Astronema had led them to expect. Sure, they were winning the space battles, but more slowly and with higher losses than expected. After the initial border engagement the League ships had somehow found a way to target the most vulnerable points of Alliance ship shields.

Fred was sure that if Justin were here, he could have done something about that, but there was still no sign of his friend. Where was he? And who had him, the GLL or the UAE?

Divatox might have held a grudge against Justin from his days resisting her, but Divatox was in GLL custody herself now. The only other likely suspect in the UAE was Dark Specter himself!

Could the Overlord of Evil have somehow divined what he and Justin had planned and acted first? The very idea sent a shiver down Fred's spine, the first real sensation of fear he had felt since becoming a Psycho Ranger.

If Dark Specter had taken Justin, then he would be next. If that was the case . . . then he and Justin were both doomed, so he might as well dismiss the possibility from consideration altogether.

That left the Galactic League of Light. More specifically, that left _Billy_! Who else could have masterminded Justin's abduction?

The problem was that Aquitar, where Justin had said Billy was based, was one of the two most secure worlds in the entire League. There was no way for him to reach the planet, not until the fleet itself was able to penetrate that far into GLL space. And he could not affect the space battle; he could only do his part here on the ground.

A couple of laser shots struck his armor, and Fred realized that he'd actually allowed himself to become distracted during a combat operation! He'd never made that mistake before, but then he'd never before felt nearly as powerful and safe from harm as he did while in his morphed form.

Extending his staff toward a nearby burning tree and concentrating, Fred leeched the fire from the tree and sent it in a long stream to engulf the two opposing soldiers, adding their terrified screams to the din and clamor of the battle.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

To the outward eye Justin was quietly eating the fried eel Billy had given him for lunch. Inside, however, the Blue Psycho Ranger was seething with murderous rage.

He had known it was coming, had braced himself for the inevitable, but handing over his Psycho Morpher had still felt like he was cutting his own right arm off.

It had taken all of his control, all of his willpower, to surrender his Morpher without betraying how badly he wanted to hold onto the priceless device. Only his recognition that there was no other choice had enabled him to go through with it. If he didn't give his Morpher to Billy voluntarily, the other genius would find a way to take it from him. And then there would be no real barrier to bringing the forcefield down and subjecting him to a thorough analysis.

That was what he had to avoid at all costs! Even something as simple as an X-ray would betray the existence of his neural net, and once Billy knew about _that_ he was finished. So he had spun the story of a continual, mind-altering spell which the forcefield was shielding him from. It was a plausible tale, difficult to disprove, and gave him an excellent reason for insisting that Billy maintain the forcefield, which also kept Billy from being able to closely examine him.

It was his need to win older man's trust which had led Justin to give truthful information about how neutrino scanning could be used to detect fluctuations and weak points in the shields of UAE ships.

Again, what choice had he had?! The only path to survival and escape, not to mention achievement of the secondary goal he'd devised, lay in convincing Billy that he was the victim of an evil spell. He had done what he had to do!

The only comfort he could take was the certainty that the _Envenomed Blade_ would be near the center of the fleet as always, thus alleviating any worry that the information he'd disclosed might harm Fred.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

"It seems to me that, had you not extracted the Phantom Ranger from his place on the Dark Fortress, we could have had earlier warning that this attack was coming," Admiral Garthok sniffed.

"Yes, Admiral, we might have," Billy conceded patiently and pleasantly, "but earlier warning would have done little good. By having the Phantom Ranger take the Blue Psycho Ranger prisoner I was able to provide you with the neutrino scanning technique which has been of actual combat use, not to mention depriving the enemy of one of his most important assets."

"The loss of one Psycho Ranger will harm them little, especially given that all of _our_ remaining Rangers are off the battlefield!" Garthok snapped, the Aquitan's head tilting to one side.

"As I explained to this Board days ago the Light Rangers are engaged on a vital mission, the outcome of which could be key to vanquishing the Psycho Rangers," Billy concluded, _again_.

Holo-conferences with the League's Military Board tended to be draining, but this one was worse than usual. With Admiral Telan too busy attempting to forestall the UAE fleet to attend, Billy was without his primary ally and defender, leaving him to face Garthok largely alone. Then, too, the steady, inexorable advance of the UAE ships wasn't putting anyone in the GLL's upper ranks in a calm and rational frame of mind.

"Given that the Phantom Ranger has now accomplished his mission, however, should he not be dispatched back to the Dark Fortress?" Admiral Xeka asked.

"With so many of the UAE leaders on the front lines now, I don't think he would be able to gather much intelligence at the Dark Fortress now."

"So you are doing what? Keeping him there with you? Our best spy!" Admiral Garthok fumed.

"_My_ best spy, Admiral. It was agreed that I would have authority over the Rangers," Billy bit out. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Cestria shake her head urgently.

"But I will send him out immediately to resume his intelligence gathering activities," he offered.

"See that you do," Garthok commanded.

"If there is nothing else, gentlemen, I must get back to interrogating our prisoner. I need to see what other information he can give us to help beat back the UAE. I will conference with you again tomorrow at the same time." Billy promised, and shut off the holo-imaging machinery. Leaning back in his chair Billy closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

A pair of soft hands touched his shoulders and began vigorously rubbing the tension from them. "You must be careful, my love. Given the losses among the Light Rangers and their absence now, your position is more tenuous than ever before, and Garthok knows this. He might petition the Council to have the Rangers put under his authority."

"That's the last thing we need," Billy groaned, opening his eyes, rising from his chair, and embracing his wife. "You know, you don't have to be here with me. I know how important your Healer training is to you."

She shook her head. "We have reached the tipping point, my love. You need me now more than any other."

Billy couldn't argue with that.

Shifting his hug to just an arm around her neck he left the conference room, strolling back toward the Rangers' section of Inqertus.

When they entered his workshop he gestured for her to stay by the door and then walked into Justin's view.

There was a treasure trove of information still to be gained from this boy, but right now he was going to concentrate on what was potentially the most vital piece of knowledge.

"Tell me about this spell on you and the other Psycho Rangers. Who cast it? How does it work?"

"Dark Specter cast it, with the help of Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa. It-it changes how we think, it makes us want to kill and destroy, to serve the cause of darkness! It's why we've done what we did."

"And you don't feel the spell now?"

Justin shook his head. "Being behind this forcefield must be shielding me from it."

"So it goes to you from some kind of central source?"

"Yes. Dark Specter has seen the magic of the mind crumble time and again, so this time he took no chances. He interwove this spell with a life force, ensuring that one could not die without the other perishing as well."

A spell centered on a living being, rather than an object like the Sword of Darkness; that was a new innovation on Billy.

"Whose lifeforce? His own?"

Again Justin shook his head. "No, he wanted to seat the spell in the soul of the one who has done the most to thwart evil. He tied it into the life force of Tommy Oliver, the Red Psycho Ranger. As long as he's alive, the Psycho Rangers will remain as they are."

ΩΩΩΩ


	10. Chapter 10

Billy abruptly whirled away from his prisoner, hiding his face in the knowledge that otherwise he could not conceal his reaction to what he'd been told. All of this time Tommy had been the Red Psycho Ranger! And he'd never known, never even suspected! That it had been a human, yes, of course, but that it had been _Tommy_ . . .

Yet it wasn't really him, was it? He'd fought alongside Tommy for years, had gladly served under the other Ranger's leadership, and Tommy had always been calm and rational during battle, even in the worst of situations. He hadn't charged recklessly forward like the Red Pyscho Ranger often did, hadn't ever let his lust for victory overwhelm his good sense, and he had certainly cared much more about his teammates than the Red Pyscho Ranger.

Oh, who the Hell was he trying to fool?! Himself? Was he trying to rationalize away what . . . what he was afraid had to be done? This was hardly the first time Tommy had been under a spell; in fact if he checked back through his personal journals Billy was pretty sure he'd find that Tommy had been the victim of mind-control more often than all of the other Rangers combined. And why not? Why wouldn't the bad guys want to turn the most formidable warrior on the other side into their warrior?

It was simple, elementary logic, of the kind which had apparently somehow eluded him for the last two years. He'd seen the skill, the battle prowess one would expect of true Rangers, but he'd been misled by the savagery and bloodlust. And he shouldn't have been, since that was the whole point of such spells: to change the victim's personality. True, Tommy hadn't been acting like himself, but of course he never _did_ when he was under a spell! They'd saved him time and again, and after they did he always went back to being Tommy. Sadder, yes, and stricken by guilt for what he'd done, just as Justin clearly was, but still fundamentally Tommy.

This wouldn't be freeing him, at least not in the sense that they always had before. It would be killing him, shooting the hostage instead of rescuing him. Rangers didn't do that. Rangers didn't EVER do that!

But what if there was no choice?

What if this was the only way to stop the Psycho Rangers, defeat the United Alliance of Evil, and save the galaxy? Could they do it then? Could he order it done?

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Justin watched Billy's back like a hawk, working hard to keep the smug, self-satisfied grin from his face. Though he doubted the remaining Light Rangers had any real chance of taking down Tommy, there was certainly no harm in making sure they targeted him above the rest of the Psycho Rangers.

And given the dire nature of his of own situation, it felt terrific to actually be _accomplishing_ something, even if his achievement here was unlikely to equate to any substantive gain.

When Billy turned back toward him he appeared relatively together. Surprisingly, he didn't return to the subject of Tommy, but moved on to weaponry and Quantrons. As he was forced to give away more valuable information Justin resolved to himself that he would escape from here.

Tonight.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Hours later Billy left Justin and went almost to the door, where Cestria and the Phantom Ranger both stood.

"Did you get all of that?" he asked the morphed Eltarian.

The Phantom Ranger nodded in confirmation.

"Send it to the League Military Board. Maybe having it come through you will make Admiral Garthok more inclined to take it seriously."

"Is he troubling you again? Didn't my father-"

"No, he wasn't there. He's still on the front lines, trying to hold back the UAE offensive," Billy explained.

"You were right to have me take him, Billy," the Phantom Ranger declared firmly. "What he told us about the Psycho Rangers could be the key to the war!"

"If he was right!" Billy snapped, louder than he'd intended. Moving to his side, Cestria placed a comforting hand on his arm.

"You think he was not?" she asked gently.

"I don't know yet. I think that's what Dark Specter told him, but that doesn't mean it's the truth; it only means it's what Dark Specter told him."

Billy paused for a moment, then turned back to the current Ranger. 

"The Board wants to send you back to the Dark Fortress, but I don't think there will be anything to overhear there now, not with the offensive they have underway."

"I can to try to infiltrate them closer to home," the Phantom Ranger offered, "if you're sure you don't need me here."

"In all the time you've been watching him, has our prisoner ever hit the forcefield or shown any other signs of anger?"

Again the Phantom Ranger shook his head.

"Then there's no more reason for you to stay here. Just be careful out there, please."

With a nod the Phantom Ranger turned and left the room. Cestria's hand hadn't moved from Billy's arm since she placed it there, and he could see the concern in her eyes as she gazed at him.

"Would you like to talk of what he told you, my love?"

"Maybe later tonight," Billy allowed. "Right now there's something I have to work on."

He kissed her once, and then went over to the work table nearest the door. Taking hold of a thin metal wedge, he worked it into the seam and used it to pry the cover off of Justin's Psycho Morpher.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The teenage Psycho Ranger betrayed no signs of his excitement or anticipation when Billy brought his dinner arrived that evening, keeping to the same silent, depressed facade he had been maintaining throughout his captivity. Nonetheless inside his heart was racing and his mouth had gone dry. This was it!

Dinner appeared to be some form of fish resembling flounder, fruit of an unknown type, and a glass of water. His only utensil made of a bendable, springy material which would be useless as a weapon. That was all right; he didn't need one. He already had everything he needed, right here.

He ate slowly and not too much; he didn't want to be stuffed for what came next. Once the field went down he would sprint for the plasma torch lying on the nearest table. He would use that to take care of Billy, then he would use the communications equipment in the next room to contact the UAE before teleporting home. All in all it should only take a few minutes.

"I'm done," he announced to Billy.

"You're sure? You didn't eat a lot," the Rangers' mentor asked.

"I'm sure."

"I've gotten a stripped-down device that I'll bring in an hour from now for your bodily wastes," Billy offered, and Justin only nodded, not trusting his voice to remain steadily in the face of this disgusting humiliation. Killing him was going to feel _so_ good!

And it would be possible because of the one design flaw he had at detected in Billy's device. By placing the controls in the back of connector which linked the top and bottom halves of the device, he had ensured that whoever was manning the machine would be blinded to what the prisoner inside was doing at the moment it was switched from one setting to another. Billy was a genius, no doubt about it, but Justin knew from personal experience that even geniuses made mistakes, and Billy was going to pay dearly for this one!

The light-haired adult disappeared from view, and a few seconds later there was again the sharp crack as the forcefield shifted from the inner ring to the outer one. He placed his plastic-or at least it seemed like plastic-plate in the outer niche. Then he spilled the water which was left in his glass atop the needle-thin line in the inner metal circle which received the forcefield from above. In almost the same motion he wiped his left forearm vigorously along the metal, getting rid of the water which had pooled on either side of the hair-wide opening. Finally he put his empty glass in the outer niche.

Pulling his arm back and standing he called, "Okay," tensing his large, powerful muscles for the action which was to follow, his eyes fastened tightly on the plasma torch.

Another sharp crack, and . . .

Nothing.

He had thought there would be sparks at the least, perhaps a small fire, and maybe even a potentially lethal arc of electricity conducted along the lower platform and into him. That was a risk he was more than willing to take (death was certainly far better than what would happen to him if he remained in their custody), yet nothing had happened.

Billy walked back around, seeming briefly surprised to find Justin standing. In order to cover this lapse the teenaged Psycho Ranger asked, "Do you think you could bring the portable toilet sooner? Please?"

Billy nodded, picking up the plate and glass and leaving.

As soon as he heard the door whisper shut. Justin extended his hands, his fingers feeling an impenetrable, invisible surface. He traced the forcefield all along the area where he had spilled the water, in growing disbelief. Nothing!

Some of the water had gotten in there, he knew it had! The machine should have shorted out, he should be free by now!

Unless Billy had somehow water-proofed the interior of his device.

Slowly Justin shook his head, in numb resignation. He had no idea how it had been done, but that was the only answer which made sense. Working underwater, with an amphibious species, Billy had found a way to waterproof his inventions.

A scream of mingled rage and frustration tried to claw its way free from Justin's throat and only with great difficulty was he able to choke it back.

Suddenly he wondered if he was going to die here, if that was the only option left for him to exercise.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

They rose with the sun, the Light Rangers greeting the dawn. The Aquitans immediately went to the surface of the nearby sea to fully regenerate themselves. For what was to come they would need to be at the peak of fitness and readiness.

T.J., Cassie, Justin waited at the ruins, their visual receptors occasionally turning to scan the bone-strewn plain.

"If we make it there, do you think we'll have enough?" Justin questioned, glancing up at T.J.

It was an unusually imprecisely phrased question from the little android, but T.J. understood what he was asking perfectly.

"I think if we receive the Great Power, we'll have more than enough energy to defeat the Psycho Rangers," he reassured his teammate. "Billy wouldn't have sent us here unless it was the answer." 

"Billy is intelligent and wise," Dulcea's oddly English-accented voice spoke from behind them, and all three androids whirled around, wondering how she had been able to approach them so silently.

"He knows that with the Great Power, anything is possible," Dulcea continued.

Their Aquitan companions joined them and Dulcea spread her arms wide.

"I can aid you no longer, Rangers. If I were to leave this plateau I would begin aging rapidly, and I would not live to see you halfway to your goal. Trust in your Spirits, trust in each other, trust in the Power, and you will achieve all you have sought."

Resuming her form of a snow-white owl, Dulcea disappeared into the blue sky.

"Let us begin," Delphine intoned, and they started toward the Temple.

The endless hours of walking the plains would have been monotonous if not for the bones scattered everywhere. The bones of those who had sought the Great Power in the past, and failed.

Billy had told them that his team had had no trouble at all on the plains. It wasn't until the elephant-type graveyard in the jungle that they'd faced any danger.

So, each of the Light Rangers wondered uneasily during the course of their trek, what had killed _these _questers? And would it come after them, as it had not after Billy and his teammates?

Perhaps their reasons for seeking the Great Power were unworthy, Delphine speculated. Maybe that was why they'd been struck down.

Whatever had killed all of these people in the past could have been killed itself in a battle, or simply died of old age, Cassie concluded.

Justin noticed that many of the skeletons were neither human, Aquitan, or Eltarian. Maybe they were the remains beings who hadn't been able to survive this long, hot march across open land. If that was the case, though, why had they begun it at all?

They might have had no other choice. Maybe this had been the last hope for their species, for their planet. Just as he and his friends represented the last hope for the galaxy.

Justin shuddered, and tried to think of something else.

It was late in the afternoon when they ceased baking on the plains and stepped into the sweltering jungle. The humidity, the water in the air, made it a more congenial environment for the Aquitans, and a less inviting one for the androids.

The jungles on most worlds teemed with life, the air filled with the noise of furry, arboreal creatures and the flight of avians, with the occasional roar or bellow from one of the larger predators.

This jungle was eerily, unnaturally silent.

Two hours in they came upon clearing where the bones of seemingly dinosaur-sized behemoths lay. Billy had warned them that this was where his group had been attacked by a giant skeleton.

"We'll skirt it," Aurico whispered. "Around the left edge. Follow me."

So they made a path of their own through the jungle, to one side of the vast, surface graveyard of beasts. They rejoined the path, though T.J. couldn't resist looking back, not believing it could be this easy.

It wasn't.

Not one, but ALL of the massive skeletons were rising up and putting themselves together, at least a dozen, each roughly the size of a Triceratops.

"Run!" the Red Ranger shouted, and his comrades didn't question him. They ran, the undead beasts smashing through the jungle after them, knocking down trees and trampling the undergrowth.

A quick glance back at the danger told Aurico they weren't going to make it. The things would overtake and trample them, and without their morphed armor to protect them, the Aquitans would die.

"Get ready! We must fight them!" Aurico called out. This time there were questioning looks and stares of disbelief thrown at the Red Ranger who had spoken, but he had no time for them. The things were getting closer.

"We can't face them head-on! Outmaneuver them!" he commanded.

Dropping back and swerving to the right Aurico deliberately put himself in the sights of one of the foremost beasts. Judging the distance, the creature's pace, calculating, he headed straight for a tree and, using a combination of spirit power and telekinesis, he literally ran straight up the trunk!

When the skull smashed into the base of the tree Aurico flipped off the bark, somersaulting to come down on the thing's neck. Remembering what Billy had told them about how they had defeated their one opponent, Aurico swiftly searched the neck, finding and pulling at the proper section of bone.

The skull fell free from the rest of the macabre being, and the remainder of the skeleton collapsed into pieces beneath him.

The others had stampeded past him, and he swiftly scaled another tree. Grabbing a vine he swung after the pack.

In mid-swing he saw Delphine flip off T.J.'s shoulders, coming down on the neck of a creature as he had, even as T.J. darted out of the way.

Tideus and Cassie had doubled back on the beasts, taking advantage of their difficulty in turning swiftly.

And as he landed on the back of another creature, he saw Justin go down right ahead of him beneath one of their hooves.

"No!" he shouted, reaching forward as though he could somehow change the outcome.

The skeleton continued stomping the area, somehow making a trumpeting sound of triumph while lacking at vocal chords.

It was cut off mid-bellow as it abruptly seemed to levitate into the air. At first Aurico thought Tideus or Delphine had used their telekinesis, but no Aquitan who had ever lived could use TK to lift even half that much weight!

Then he saw a flash of blue down somewhere beneath all the white, and he began to breath again.

Only to lose his breath as the skeletal beast came flying straight at the one he was riding! He jumped, but before he could touch the ground something came flying into the side of his head and he knew no more.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Cestria tried again to engage her husband over breakfast, but it was a subject Billy was reluctant to speak of.

"My love, I know how difficult this must be for you. I know Tommy was one of your best friends."

"He was," Billy agreed tightly. "And you know how we first met him? As the evil Green Ranger, while he was under Rita's magical control."

In a sudden violent move he smashed his plate and the eel remaining on it from the table and into the wall, shards of plasticite and eel flying everywhere.

"I should have seen it!" he raged. "I should have realized who the Psycho Rangers were!"

Cestria was out of her chair in a flash, kneeling by her husband's side, her hands placed gently on his shoulders. "Listen to me!" she insisted. "This is NOT your fault!"

When he shook his head in wordless denial she shifted her grip to his cheeks, holding his head.

"It is not!" she nearly shouted. "Just as the capture of the Turbo Turbine was not your fault! If you must blame someone, blame the Eltarians for not defending their planet better! Blame the rest of the free galaxy, for not coming to their aid in time! Best of all, blame Dark Specter and the United Alliance of Evil for forcing this war upon us! But do not blame yourself, not now or ever again. If not for what you have done, Dark Specter would already rule the galaxy. We are still here because of you."

"Here, on the edge of destruction," Billy countered bitterly.

"And that, too, is not your fault! All of the GLL intelligence community failed to detect the Gold Psycho Ranger before it was too late. You try, my husband, you try mightily, but in spite of all your efforts, you cannot know everything!" she proclaimed fiercely, placing special emphasis on the last four words.

Lowering his forehead to hers, Billy wept and her arms went around him in an embrace.

Later, he told her, "I just wish I could have done something! If I had known earlier-"

"What could you have done?" Cestria asked reasonably. "If Justin spoke truly, only Tommy's death will shatter the spell."

"I have no real reason to doubt him," Billy admitted quietly. "Everything he's told me so far has been the truth. But Tommy . . ." he paused, unable to find the words to go on.

"He saved us, he saved _me_, so many times, Cestria."

"I understand," his wife whispered.

"He's the last person who deserves this!" Billy said with sudden vehemence. "He should have been allowed to retire, to enjoy the world he protected for so long."

"Yes," she agreed, and for a time they just sat silently.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

_Aurico! Aurico! _A voice called within his mind. It was accompanied by a flash of pain and with a groan he brought a hand to the hood surrounding his head, feeling a sticky substance right over the area of pain.

"No telepathy!" he barked. "My head is aching as it is."

"Can you stand?" T.J.'s voice questioned, and he opened his eyes to see all of his teammates clustered around him, the other Red Ranger extending a hand downward. Taking it he was pulled to his feet. He staggered a bit, but found his balance.

"What happened?"

"When one skeleton struck the other, a flying bone hit you in the side of the head," Delphine explained.

Aurico winced, realizing the sticky patch was his own blood. He was most fortunate to have taken the hit in the side of the head, where the bone was thick. Such a blow to the top of the head would have killed him.

"And someone has something to say to you," Cassie put in, her hands on Justin's shoulders.

The littlest Ranger was staring down at the jungle floor, refusing to meet Aurico's gaze. The all-covering blue ninja outfit he wore was badly shredded around the torso, his golden dolphin chest emblem hanging by little more than a thread. The synth-skin underneath it had also been torn, but there seemed to be no further damage.

"I'm sorry, Aurico," the Blue Turbo Ranger confessed. "When I threw my skeleton thing, I didn't realize you were riding that other one! I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"I know, Justin," Aurico said gently. "I'm glad you're all right. When I saw that monster step on you I was afraid we had lost you too."

Now Justin did look up, his eyes meeting Aurico's. "Don't worry, Aurico. We androids are tough."

Laughing he clapped Justin on the shoulder before looking around at the rest.

"No one else was injured," he asked hopefully.

"Just you. Why, you think the rest of us can't take care of ourselves?" Tideus asked cockily.

"Not at all," Aurico responded smoothly. "I knew my team was more than a match for that bunch of boneheads."

The collective groan at his horrible pun was music to Aurico's ears.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

They reached the Temple as the sun was starting to go down.

It was just as Billy had described it: built into the side of the small mountain they were facing, a massive stone door flanked by pillars, with a diamond-shaped pattern of four niches in the door.

To the left of the Temple a gentle waterfall cascaded down into a pool of clear, extremely powerful acid, while a rocky path zigzagged up the mountain on the right.

In the niches had been statues of black-furred, hoglike armored bipeds with great axes and maces that had come to life to challenge them. They were the final obstacle to obtaining the Great Power.

Aurico and the others approached and he raised his eyes to the door, only to stop in shock.

It wasn't statues of the creatures Billy had described in the four niches: it was the statues of Rangers. Two Aquitans, two humans, and as they shifted from stone he saw their colors: Black, Yellow, Green and Blue.

"Corcus!" Delphine called out, the yearning plain in her voice.

"Cestro!" Justin shouted, following suite.

In response the Black and Blue Rangers drew their back-sheathed swords, while Yellow twirled her Star Chargers and Green brandished his Turbo Thunder cannon.

"These aren't our friends!" Aurico shouted. "Scatter!" he commanded as the Green Ranger discharged his Thunder Cannon, his friends barely avoiding the blast.

Aurico raced forward, even as the Black, Yellow and Blue Ranger dropped from their niches, leaving only the Green Ranger remaining in the highest niche. T.J. flanked him, while Delphine raced for the path on the right, up the mountainside.

He couldn't see where Tideus, Cassie, and Justin had gone, and right now it didn't matter; far from being able to help them , he was going to have enough problems just trying to stay alive himself.

Aurico was an expert swordsman, the product of his own natural talent and of more than a decade's worth of intense, determined training. Aside from perhaps the Red Psycho Ranger, he was willing to confidently pit his swordsmanship against any other being in the galaxy, including this Corcus imitator. Yes, he would have been confident of winning this duel.

If he'd had a sword of his own.

Without one he was reduced to dodging the swipes of the shining blade, evading each thrust and jab. Out of the corner of his eye he saw T.J. doing the same, only a few feet to his left. He'd feared the Ashley-doppelganger would flank them, but she was instead sprinting up the path after Delphine, while the Green changeling poured blaster fire beyond them, presumably at the other three Rangers.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Tideus came flying from the left to knock Cassie down to the ground, the blast from the Green Ranger imposter barely passing over them. She, Tideus and Justin had been driven back into the jungle, pinned down by the sniper on the stone door's highest niche. Justin was prone, seeming to be looking around the ground for some reason, and Cassie had just tried to rise to get a view of what was happening.

"Thanks, Tideus," she whispered to him as he crawled off her.

"What would you do without me?" the Yellow Ranger asked mockingly, as Justin pounded at the ground.

"There aren't any rocks around here to throw!" he exclaimed furiously.

"We should have taken some of those rib bones," Tideus pointed out. "We could have used them as spears."

Unfortunately they hadn't, and so at the moment they were helpless to aid their friends.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Delphine ran along the path, stopping when she was above the temple and its gun-wielding guard. She wished with all of her heat that they had been able to fight the things Billy had, and not just because they had lacked ranged weapons. Having to face these simulacrums of their fallen friends was terrible! Only by pretending they were Psycho Rangers was she able to keep her focus.

Now if she leapt down from here, she should be able to-

A jolt of electricity flashed through her and she crumpled to the path. Rolling onto her back she saw the Yellow Guardian looming over her, Star Chargers sparking. Forcing her aching muscles to obey her she seized her enemy's wrists as the Star Chargers came down for another blow. This thing was stronger than she was, however, and she wouldn't be able to hold the weapons back for long.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The sword tip opened a painful cut on his left side as he failed to dodge quickly enough and Aurico hissed in pain. How had Billy said they'd beaten these things? One had plunged into the acid pool, one they'd crushed under boulders on the path, one they'd tricked the other into destroying and one they'd just hit really hard into the door.

Consciously T.J. knew he wasn't facing Cestro. Subconsciously, however, he couldn't help expecting the opponent using Cestro's form to also use his style, his techniques. Hence he was taken by surprise when his enemy launched a jackhammer-like side kick into his torso, undoubtedly denting his metal even as it knocked him to the ground.

Aurico saw T.J. go down, saw the Blue's sword level itself at his chest, and without even time to think, he acted. Seizing his foe's left wrist, he used that lock and all of his strength to hurl his black-armored enemy on top of T.J. When the sword came down, it buried itself in their enemy rather than the Red Ranger.

The Black Ranger facsimile broke apart into chunks of rock as the Blue one turned its' attention to Aurico, its slashes forcing him back, toward the pool of acid.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Drawing up one leg, Delphine braced her foot against her attacker's stomach and then sent it somersaulting over her head. The White Ranger scrambled to her feet and took off back down the path, the Yellow doppelganger hot on her heels.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

"Aurico, down!" T.J. shouted as he regained his feet. The Red Aquitan Ranger dropped into a square, footstool-like crouch before his opponent. T.J. rammed the Blue imposter from behind, sending his tumbling over the prone Aurico and into the pool of acid.

As he watched the thing disintegrate, a blaze of energy blasted off T.J's right arm. He dropped to the ground and Aurico had to flip over him to avoid the blast aimed at him.

Now Justin broke cover, racing toward the pile of stones which had been the Black attacker, ignoring the shouts to wait. The Green sniper shifted his aim, and had Aurico not had the presence of mind to use his telekinesis to yank the barrel upward, he would have gotten in a direct hit on Justin's chest which would have surely finished the android.

Grabbing one of the stone pieces, Justin rifled it at the Green guardian's weapon, smashing it almost in two. Behind him Tideus and Cassie ran forward, while Delphine came back down to their level, closely pursued by the Yellow guardian.

Aurico knelt to see if T.J. was still functional, the Green imposter leapt down and Cassie and Tideus swerved to cut off Delphine's pursuer.

She nailed each of them with a Star Charger, though without her morphed armor the effect was worse on Cassie, causing her entire system to reboot. Delphine shifted, coming back toward the Yellow creature to defend Cassie and Tideus, even as Justin stepped in front of the Green Ranger.

Yet the Green Ranger imposter flipped over Justin, striking down Delphine from behind. The Yellow simulacrum hit Tideus again with both Star Charges. Then it dropped its weapons, lifted him overhead, and hurled him into the pool.

Tideus' agonized death screams as his body was swiftly eaten away immobilized Aurico and Delphine. Cassie was still rebooting and T.J. had yet to rise after the loss of his arm. The Green imposter was about to stomp Delphine's skull when a blue-clad fist came smashing out of his chest.

Even as he crumbled Justin was swerving around him, coming at the Yellow Guardian, who had regained her Star Chargers. Grabbing the weapons from the sides Justin crushed them both. Yellow staggered him with a chest kick, but he grabbed her throat and one thigh, and threw her into the pool as well.

They had won . . . but at what cost?

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Seldom could Billy remember a day so frantic. Between interrogating Justin, conveying his information to the fleet, examining the Psycho Morpher, and putting the finishing touches on Ashley and Carlos' new bodies, now each occupying a table in his workshop, he felt absolutely drained by the time it was lunch, which he couldn't even have because this was the time the military board wanted him in holo-conference again.

The only thing which helped was how Cestria had come to aid him. Though she lacked the technological know-how of Justin or Cestro, merely his presence was calming to him. He was more than half-tempted to ask her to come with him to the holo-conference, but she was not technically military personnel and the last thing he needed to do was to give Admiral Garthok something else to complain about. So he left her with a kiss, and she promised lunch would be ready when he got back.

"Could I have a lunch, please?" a voice called out right after the door slid closed, and she realized it had come from their prisoner.

Walking over to the forcefield generator, she stared sympathetically at their cross-legged captive. She knew her husband saw much of himself in the Robot Ranger Justin, and she likewise cared for the boy. It was a tragedy that his original template had fallen to such a terrible fate. As Billy had observed of Tommy, Justin deserved better.

"What would you like?" she asked kindly.

He wouldn't look at her, his head still bowed. "Anything is fine," he mumbled.

He would need a psychic healer when this war was done, she was certain. Perhaps his robot counterpart could aid him in recovering.

She would make him Billy's favorite eel dish. It took only a few minutes, and then she was depositing it, a drink of water, and a springy aurmok in the outer niche. Moving to the control panel she shifted the forcefield to the outer, allowing him to access the food and drink.

When he was finished she went back to the controls, shifting the forcefield back to outer. "Okay," he said, and she pressed the button to shift the forcefield again, just as he said something else.

Then a piercing scream, as terrible as anything she'd heard on the field of battle, echoed through the room. Coming back around at a run Cestria beheld an awful sight: Blood practically _fountained _out of the four stumps on Justin's left hand, hitting the forcefield and running down it in a trail of crimson gore. His right hand clutched at his left, his head thrown back and his mouth gaping open as he howled his pain to the heavens. Below, in the niche, four severed fingers lay in a pile on the plate.

She'd turned the forcefield back on too soon, and _amputated his fingers_!

If she'd had time to coldly and logically examine the terrible scene, to truly study every detail as one would for a beautiful landscape painting, perhaps Cestria would have wondered why Justin's left thumb had not been cut off. In its natural position on an outstretched hand, the thumb would have been sliced in half by the forcefield that had taken his fingers so neatly and completely.

Perhaps she wouldn't have. In either case, the answer was irrelevant, as there was simply no time to waste. The horrific knowledge of what she, an aspiring healer, had done to a man already suffering from the most terrible guilt, led Cestria to operate entirely on instinct. Moving perhaps faster than she ever had in her life, Cestria ran back to the controls, turning off the forcefield and shouting "Medical emergency! Healer to the workroom!"

As she came back toward Justin, intent on administering what aid she could, he released his left hand and brought his right fist crashing down onto the delicate top of her skull.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

As he'd watched four of his fingers tumble onto the plate, Justin had reminded himself for the thousandth time that this was the only way! It was horrific self-mutilation, far worse than anything he had ever imagined willingly subjecting himself to, but it was the **ONLY WAY**! This was the last card he had to play, the final roll of the dice he would be allowed. Lose your fingers or lose your life; that was the choice he'd had to make.

That it was Cestria and not Billy who was attending to him only confirmed that this was the right time to put his plan into action. Billy might yet have mastered himself, might have let his intelligence guide him rather than his compassion.

His wife had done no such thing.

Bringing his fist down on her head brought such fierce joy that Justin wished he could do it over and over again, but there was no time. Healers would be on their way here and he would be going into shock soon.

Whipping off his shirt he wrapped it around his hand, temporarily staunching the flow of blood. Picking up the plate with his-his fingers on it in his right hand, he turned toward the door, stopping when he saw the android bodies of Cassie and Carlos. Mind racing, he grabbed the plasma torch in his mouth and went to the storage device. Setting the plate down on the chair, he switched the plasma torch on and left it leaning on the top of the memory storage unit.

Snatching up the plate again his eyes desperately searched across the table, looking for his Psycho Morpher. If he could just morph, then he wouldn't have to worry about his wound or the onset of shock. He could slaughter the coming medical team, then find and kill Billy before leaving, a thought which filled him with delicious anticipation.

There! On the table nearest the door! But he'd removed the outer casing . . . and as Justin drew near, he saw that the morpher's power leads had been cut.

Again a scream pierced the air of the workroom, but this was no cry of pain; it was a bellow of purest, almost animal fury. Just like his left hand, his morpher had been mutilated.

Setting down his place, he shoved the device into his right pocket and with his plate in hand staggered out of the room, half-slumping over the controls, his blue shirt around his hand now almost black with blood.

Where could he go? This equipment would drop the planetary shield automatically to allow his egress, but he was teleporting from fucking _Aquitar_, how could he get the UAE to drop shields to allow him onto any planet or vessel?!

Wait, of course! Working feverishly with his one remaining hand, he set the computer to locate the _Envenomed Blade_, hoping against hope that Billy had specially flagged that ship in the computer's database. If he hadn't . . .

He had.

"This is the Blue Psycho Ranger!" he shouted into the comm as he locked onto the location and the door slid open, three astonished Aquitans staring at him with wide eyes. "I'm teleporting to the ship, drop the shields!"

He grabbed his plate, hit the button with the cloth-covered stump of a hand he had left, and in a flare of bright blue light he was gone.

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	11. Chapter 11

By design the Inqertus conference room was windowless, soundproofed and, aside from the holo communications array, free of any technological means of passing messages into or out of the chamber. Even Aquitan telepathy could not penetrate the specially designed walls, floor and ceiling. Similar precautions had been taken at each of the Military Board members' personal conference rooms.

All of this was considered necessary to keep high-level military conferences from being any outside interruption and, much more importantly, to safeguard the extraordinarily valuable secrets shared in such meetings from the UAE. In a true emergency an underling could simply open the door to address his superior, though for the sake of that junior officer's career it had best be a situation which genuinely merited violating one of the strictest rules of interplanetary military protocol.

For this reason it wasn't until Billy emerged from the room that he learned what had happened while he'd been sequestered away with the Military Board.

Asara, Cestria's friend and fellow healer trainee, was waiting for him in the corridor. After years of living among the race Billy had been able to pick up somewhat on Aquitan body language, and the extreme tilt of the dark-haired female's head to the right indicated severe distress.

"What is it?" he asked at once. "What's wrong?"

"You'll want to wait near the medical bay," she told him, her voice almost breaking on the last word.

Billy's first thought was that his Rangers were back, and at least one of them was injured badly enough that he needed to get there before the end came. Maybe more than one; in fact maybe only one survivor had made it back at all! That would explain why it was Asara waiting for him here instead of one of his team.

"Which one is it?" Billy asked as he hurried down the hall at her side.

She swallowed, and then said two words. Two simple, everyday words for him, yet it took the one hundred and eighty-two IQ man a full five seconds to succeed in comprehending their meaning.

"It's Cestria."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

They hadn't told him immediately. They hadn't told him at all until he was back aboard the _Envenomed Blade_, ready to move on and ravage the next planet the advancing fleet exposed to the Alliance's wrath.

Even then the news had not been given to them specifically, first thing; it had been part of an informational update given to Tommy by one of the officer Quantrons when they reappeared in the ready room.

The instant he heard that "your other Ranger is recovering in the medical bay", he had blurred down the hallway, scrapping three Quantrons on the way and not caring about that fact in the least.

Subsequent to the desertion of the Piranhatrons many vessels in the UAE fleet no longer contained any organic medical facilities at all. Since the _Envenomed Blade_ was the usual transport of the Psycho Rangers, however, it had been retained a small treatment center, operating, and recovery rooms manned by two medically programmed Quantrons. Given the inhuman toughness of the Psycho Rangers and the strength of their armor, this area of the ship seldom saw any use, but the medical droids were at work today.

These Quantrons Fred was careful not to destroy, but he did dodge around one in order to enter the small, well-lit room whose bed was currently occupied.

Justin looked awful. He was worryingly pale, with dark circles under his closed eyes. His body stank of sweat and smelled as if he hadn't showered in days. An IV in the Blue Psycho Ranger's left arm was giving him blood and the left hand, lying at his side, was bandaged in a way that made it clear four of his fingers were missing.

His frigging FINGERS! Wasn't the Galactic League supposed to be the "good guys"?!

"What happened? How did he get here? Is he okay?" the Gold Psycho Ranger demanded in a rush of the medical Quantron which had come to stand behind him.

"Four point six hours ago the bridge received a transmission from the Blue Psycho Ranger that ordered us to drop our shields, saying he was about to teleport aboard. He appeared in a partially inoperative state on the bridge and he and his severed components were brought here. The patient was sedated upon arrival and is in no immediate danger of entering a state of organic non-function."

So Justin had managed to escape his kidnappers and get to the _Envenomed Blade _all by himself! He hadn't needed Fred to rescue him-but he also hadn't managed to make it back in one piece.

"Where did the transmission and teleportation come from?" Fred asked urgently. He needed to know who had done this, so he could properly focus his vengeance.

"The verbal transmission and the teleportation beam originated from the planet Aquitar."

Aquitar! So it had been the GLL after all! Knowing that brought a fierce retroactive pleasure and satisfaction to the deaths of the hundreds of soldiers Fred had slaughtered so far, but also filled him with the resolve to make those directly responsible for his friend's plight pay-with everything they had.

Then something the Quantron had said earlier registered with him.

"Severed components? You mean you have his fingers?"

"Affirmative. They have been placed in cryogenic storage, along with their transport unit."

Transport unit?

"Show me," Fred commanded.

The Quantron turned and reentered the main room. Loath though he was to leave his recently returned ally and teammate, the Gold Psycho Ranger reluctantly followed the droid out into the main room.

"I'll be back in a minute, buddy," he turned and whispered reassuringly to the sleeping seventeen year-old.

Crossing to the wall opposite the corridor entrance, which displayed a bewildering number of buttons, read-outs, and mini-doors, the Quantron pressed a yellow button. A glass-covered pod large enough to hold a full-sized human hissed outward from the wall.

Wiping a peephole in the moisture clouding the transparent substance (it wasn't glass at all, Fred could tell that from the touch), he beheld four fingers, looking like they'd been cut from the hand with a laser, and reminding him sickeningly of little hot dogs, an impression reinforced by the gruesome fact that they rested on what was clearly a blood-stained dinner plate of some sort.

Fumbling for the clasps on his helmet Fred wrenched it off, even as he worked to fight down his rising gorge. Somehow, taking deep breaths, he managed to keep himself from vomiting.

What had they DONE?! Cut off Justin's fingers in front of him and then tried to force him to . . . to _eat_ them? If so, even the painful deaths he'd planned to give the remaining Light Rangers and their mentor would not be sufficient punishment for those bastards' sick torture of his best friend!

"Is your functioning impaired?" the other medical Quantron asked as he approached. "How my we assist you?"

"I'm fine!" Fred snapped, rankled by the impersonal, technological terminology. He wasn't merely a mass-produced robot come off some Earth assembly line in China; he was the Gold Psycho Ranger, the single most powerful Ranger in the galaxy! He was unique and uniquely valuable, as was Justin, but too many here didn't seem to recognize that fact, from these machines to Astronema herself. T.J. and Cassie's rebels might have been a collection of detestable fools, but at least that group had perceived the value of each individual warrior.

Things around here were going to have to change, and they would, as soon as Justin got better-and Tommy got killed.

"When are you going to be able to reattach his fingers?" he asked the first droid, tucking his helmet under his left arm instead of donning it again.

"Subject is scheduled for reassembly in forty-three minutes and thirty two seconds; once completed, however, full digital functioning may be impaired for an indeterminate length of time."

A fancy way of saying that fingers which had just been sewn on again wouldn't necessarily be a hundred percent, Fred thought sourly. All of this advanced technology around him, and they couldn't manage to fix Justin up as good as new? After they'd operated on him to give him his neural net . . . _Rita_ had healed him, even growing his hair back! That was the answer!

Putting his helmet back on Fred made his way to the bridge, not blurring, but moving very quickly nonetheless. Heading straight to the comm. console he told the manning droid, "Put me through to Rita Repulsa."

The robot did so and, after tersely talking with a Quantron answering at the other end, a grating, peevish voice came on the line asking him what he wanted.

"This is the Gold Psycho Ranger. I need you to teleport to the _Envenomed Blade_ in forty minutes to heal Jus-the Blue Psycho Ranger," Fred amended.

"What?! Why should I have to come out there? It isn't safe! Don't you know there's a war on?"

"I know. I'm the one of the people fighting it while you and the others stay safe and cower."

"Hey, you can't talk to me like that!"

Technically, she was right; as a Psycho Ranger he had no authority to command one of the luminaries of the United Alliance of Evil. That didn't mean he was going to take "no" for an answer, though.

"You can agree to be here, or I can come and get you. And if I have to come and get you, you'll be the one in need of a medical bed when I'm done," Fred promised in a calm, even tone. "I'm not one of those Zordon-chosen Rangers you spent years fighting, Rita; I'm a _Psycho Ranger_. Take a moment to think about what that means, and then ask yourself: Do you really want to push me?"

There was a brief silence on the line.

"I'll be there in forty minutes," Rita grumbled petulantly.

Fred nodded to the Quantron, who ended the communication. It was a good thing Rita had decided to come-for her. Fred had had every intention of carrying through on his threat, regardless of what trouble it got him into. They were winning this war for the UAE; it was past time the Alliance's leaders showed them some fucking respect and appreciation!

Back in Justin's temporary room Fred hesitated, then powered down. Reaching out he took Justin's right hand in his own, squeezing it firmly but not too hard.

"I'm so glad you're back, Justin. You're gonna get fixed up, I made sure of it. I bet after Rita heals you you'll be up and around like nothing happened!"

Unexpectedly Justin's hand squeezed back!

Slowly, as though they were weighed down, Justin's eyelids opened. The orbs beneath were cloudy and dull, nothing like they normally were.

"Fred," he wheezed.

Fred knelt down by the side of the bed, keeping hold of Justin's hand.

"I'm right here, Justin," he offered.

"'Course you are; I made sure you would be," Justin managed to get out.

Huh? What did that mean? Probably that by giving him the Gold Psycho Ranger powers and being his friend, he'd made certain Fred would be a loyal friend to him in return. That was sure true enough.

"Just rest now. They're going to reattach your fingers soon," Fred promised.

"Yeah, I kinda went to pieces on Aquitar," Justin admitted with a cough of a laugh, and Fred blinked in surprise. "I was dehanded, but not defeated!"

Apparently whatever drug they were using to sedate him had left Justin a little punch-drunk. He would hate that if he could understand what was going on; even more than his physical prowess, the young genius valued his mind, his intellect.

"They're going to pay for what they did to you," the Gold Psycho Ranger swore to his comrade. "I'll amputate all their limbs and watch them bleed out!"

"They didn't cut off my fingers," Justin whispered. "Did it myself. Like trapped animal'll gnaw its leg off. Had to get free."

"You're free now, and you're safe," Fred told him firmly, his mind awhirl with the unexpected revelation. How would cutting his own fingers off have gotten Justin free? Still, he wasn't exactly in his right mind now, so it would be smart to take anything he said with a grain of salt.

"'kay," Justin replied, and his eyes closed.

Fred stayed there, kneeling, until an electronic voice filled the room.

"Gold Psycho Ranger, report to the ready room for deployment."

He growled at the announcement, but the truth was there was nothing more he could do for Justin at the moment. Remorphing, the Gold Psycho Ranger stalked toward the ready room, already looking forward to taking out some of his burning rage on the GLL's pitiful excuses for soldiers.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Asara was left behind him in the distance as Billy sprinted to the medical bay. Though his Ranger days were long behind him, he'd made it a special point to maintain his physical fitness. He'd been vividly taught the importance of a sound body as well as a sound mind and, as with most of the lessons Billy Cranston had learned over his life, he'd never forgotten it.

He ran full tilt at the medical bay door, and nearly smashed head-on into it. Only at the last minute was he able to catch himself with his hands, taking the brunt on the impact on them and his chest rather than on his head.

"Open the door!" he shouted, his worry and fear morphing quickly into fury.

"Infirmary is sealed on the authority of Healer Verok."

"Military override!" Billy shouted without thinking. "Command code Gtrez- "

"Billy, don't!" Asara cried from further down the hall. "Verok is operating on her right now! You can't disturb them!"

Every atom of Billy's being longed to see his wife, to touch her, to hold her, to be with her. The overwhelming strength of his desire, his fear and worry, was almost too much for him to resist. Only his innermost nature, the logic and reason at the heart of his being, enabled him to resist finishing his recitation of the command code.

Fists clenched he turned to Asara, who stopped before him, panting.

"What happened to her?" he demanded.

"A couple of hours ago she called for healers from your workshop. Myself, Verok and Tanith answered, but when we reached the Command Chamber we found a brown-haired human at one of the control panels."

Justin! He'd been released from Cestro somehow!

"Before we could do anything he teleported away. We went into your workshop and we found-we found Cestria with the top of her skull caved in, hemorrhaging from the brain. Verok is removing the embedded shards of bone now."

"Will she be all right?" Billy whispered.

Asara's silence was answer enough.

This was his fault. He'd done this. Somehow the forcefield cage he'd constructed had failed, and his wife had paid the price for his mistake. Just like with the Turbo Turbine, his invention had led to agony for the innocent.

Turning away from Asara, from the sealed door behind which others struggled for his wife's life, he went to his workshop.

He saw the bluish blood staining the floor, a mark of his guilt, his hubris. He'd been so sure that his device would not fail, that he could safely contain a Psycho Ranger; he was a fool.

As he was turning away something else caught the genius' eye: a large, brown stain, spread over the base of Cestro. That wasn't Aquitan blood; it was human blood, and a considerable amount of it.

Had Cestria fought back, and scored a serious hit on the mind-controlled Psycho Ranger? Yet there was no weapon lying around, no sign of anything she could have used to spill so much blood. He knew without asking that the healers would have left any weapon where it lay on the floor; their first and only concern had rightly been Cestria.

Unconsciously grateful for something to focus on, Billy noticed another detail which was wrong; the presence of a glass and utensil in the outer rim, but no plate. Why would that be?

Studying the pattern of dried blood, a suspicion began to seep into Billy's thoughts. Crossing over to Cestro's controls, he activated the forcefield and as usual heard the sharp crack of the unseen barrier establishing itself. Pressing his hands all around the field he found it as solid as ever.

The forcefield hadn't failed; if anything it had worked _too_ well. Through some mistake in judgment by Cestria or Justin, it had injured the latter, seriously judging by the amount of blood. Cestria, the Healer-to-be, had called for help and had naturally deactivated the forcefield in order to render immediate first aid treatment to their prisoner, to the organic template for _their_ Justin.

And once the field was down, the spell had reasserted itself.

He'd taken out Cestria first, and then what had he done? The faint smell of burning circuitry and liquefied metal alerted the young man to what must have happened next. Following the odor to its source he discovered to his horror that the memory storage core for the Robot Rangers' psyches had been completely ruined.

Carlos and Ashley, they weren't coming back. Not ever.

He'd just lost two more Rangers.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

They had lost another Ranger. Cocky, courageous Tideus was gone.

The loss of Cestro and Corcus had been absolutely devastating, but they'd pushed it down and soldiered on. They'd sought the Great Power, but none of them had anticipated that their quest would cost them yet another teammate.

So when the ground itself began to shake beneath them it wasn't enough to break through the shock and grief each and every Ranger was feeling. Even the sliding open of the vast rock door could not interrupt their joint mourning. What was behind the door, however, demanded their attention.

Against a backdrop of intense white light was a small, ten foot tall stone pyramid. Embedded in the center of the side facing them was a massive golden seal. Etched upon its surface were representations of a unicorn, an orca, a rhinoceros, a dolphin and a nightingale.

Above the seal, near the apex of the pyramid, a shelf of stone jutted outward, almost like a seat or a throne.

Slowly the pyramid ground forward, emerging fully from its resting place. The Rangers drew together to face it, T.J. clutching his detached, sparking arm in his one remaining hand.

From out of the seal flew beings of light, their Spirit Animals. They soared and twisted around the remaining Rangers, an experience which would have filled the Light Rangers with joy had they not been dealing with another loss to their team, their family.

Each of the animals dove into the golden chest medallion of their respective Ranger and in a flash of light their cloth robes had been transformed into Ranger armor. Even T.J.'s arm was attached and functional once more, as though it had never been severed.

The explosion of power each felt within then was impossible to describe to any who had never known the energy of the Morphin Grid. Suffice it to say that even those previously granted the power of a Ranger would have been stunned by this incredible infusion of energy.

It did not make up for what had been lost, for the brothers who had sacrificed themselves so that the five of them could stand here. It did not diminish the weight of sorrow they bore.

But it gave them back something they and the free peoples of the galaxy had almost lost in these last few days.

It gave them hope.

Aurico's helmet turned to Delphine, the question not needing to be asked. "There's no time to go back on the ship," she asserted. "Teleport back to the Command Chamber."

Miles away, a white owl gazed at the five streaks of color arcing up into the sky and out of the atmosphere. For only the second time in all the centuries she had been here a group had succeeded in obtaining the Great Power.

The Master Warrior of Phaedos could only hope it would be enough.

Billy wasn't in the Command Chamber, the Rangers saw when they arrived. They had all expected to find him there, awaiting their return.

Maybe he was in his workshop. Maybe he had finished Ashley and Carlos' new bodies! Justin darted for the door, calling Billy's name as he entered the room.

There was their mentor, sitting slumped in the chair used when the Robot Rangers were copying their memories into storage. Beside him the storage core had been melted almost entirely in half.

Justin's words died on his lips. With the storage core destroyed, Ashley and Carlos were gone. There was no psyche left to transfer into a new body.

Justin felt rather than saw the other Rangers gather behind him. From their silence he knew they had all seen what he had.

"Billy, what happened?" Justin asked in bewilderment.

"You did!" Billy snapped, rearing up and glaring at the Blue Ranger, who instinctively recoiled.

"The Psycho Rangers, they aren't monsters or aliens; they're humans, former Earth Rangers! Tommy, Kat, Adam, Tanya . . . and Justin."

The shock that went through the room was almost palpable. All of this time, they'd been fighting former Earth Rangers, the four who had passed the mantle of Rangerhood down to the Robot Rangers' human counterparts? They'd been fighting the actual human Justin Stewart?

"How do you know this for certain?" Delphine asked gently.

"The Phantom Ranger captured the Blue Psycho Ranger, captured _Justin_," Billy spat, causing the Blue Ranger to flinch again. "I put him in that forcefield cage over there, the one I named after Cestro," Billy explained, gesturing toward a large green machine near the other side of the room. "The field blocked the spell he was under, but when it injured him Cestria turned it off to help him. He hit her on the top of her head."

Almost in unison Aurico and Delphine gasped in horror, knowing full well the effect such a blow could have on an Aquitan. Justin actually stumbled back a couple of steps. To know that all of this time he'd been fighting his human self, that all of the atrocities the Blue Psycho Ranger had committed had been done by Justin Stewart, former Blue Turbo Ranger . . . that was a terrible, life-changing revelation. But to know that the other Justin had attacked Cestria, maybe even killed her, that he'd killed Ashley and Carlos and brought so much pain to Billy . . . how could he go on with that knowledge?

"Where is Cestria?" Cassie questioned.

"She's in surgery; Verok is trying to remove all of the . . ." Billy's voice trailed off as he took in their appearance for the first time since they had found him. "Your armor . . . you won the Great Power?"

"We did," Aurico answered, an unconscious emphasis on "we" and a tremor in his voice. Billy was far beyond noticing such things, however.

"Come with me!" he ordered, springing up from his seat and running from the room.

They followed him to the medical bay door and the Aquitan healer who stood beside it. "Open up!" Billy shouted. "Military override, command code Gtrezthan, Ohklmn, Ytero!"

The healer tried to grab Billy, but without even deigning to look at her he shoved her so hard that she sprawled onto the corridor floor. He entered the room as soon as the door slid open far enough to admit him, cutting off the cries of protest inside with one of his own.

"Shut up! They can heal her! With the Great Power all things are possible! It's what we used to bring Zordon back to life!"

Now the Rangers understood what Billy wanted, why he had brought them here. Open war raged between the United Alliance of Evil and the Galactic League of Light. Thousands, soldiers and civilians, were undoubtedly dying by the hour. They needed to be out there, standing against the encroaching darkness, defending the innocent from evil's aggression. It was every Ranger's calling and duty.

First, though, they needed to do this.

The Healers backed away as Billy embraced his unconscious wife on the operating table and the Light Rangers gathered in a circle around them. Instinctively they spread their arms, their fingers just touching.

From each of their golden emblems a beam shot forth, all converging on Cestria. Motes of white light filled the room, dancing on the air.

The blood-soaked crater at the top of Cestria's head began to change, mending itself, the blood disappearing as the wound vanished.

Cestria opened her eyes and gasped. Billy's embrace tightened, their mentor weeping openly as he held the woman he loved.

Delphine, however, knew that Cestria wasn't the only one in need of healing. The burden Billy had been carrying since the start of this war had all but broken him. As a telepath she could sense how near he had come to complete mental collapse, to the shattering of everything he was. Too much had been demanded of him and he had willingly taken far too much guilt upon his own shoulders.

Quietly broadcasting her intentions to here teammates through the helmet comm, they concentrated again, and once more the beams of light emerged from their golden medallions, this time centering on Billy.

The motes of white light swirled more quickly, entering into their mentor's body. He rose to his feet, eyes closed and an expression of peace upon his face. Now Cestria was the one crying, staring lovingly up at her husband.

Without warning there was an intense flash of white light from Billy, bright enough to temporarily blind even the Robot Rangers' photo-receptors. When onlookers' vision eventually cleared they didn't see Billy standing before them anymore.

Instead there was a figure in Blue Ranger armor almost identical to Justin's. Except where the Robot Ranger's golden crest was that of a dolphin, this figure's chest medallion showed a wolf.

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	12. Chapter 12

The ship shook, throwing those unprepared and not already seated to the deck of the bridge. Admiral Telan was neither, and indeed appeared to barely notice the vessel-wide tremor. He was too busy studying the viewscreen, considering when he would have to give the order to retreat.

For retreat they must. Despite the intelligence they'd recently received on enemy weak points, there were too many opposing ships, too much incoming fire, for them to stand and win, even with the reinforcements from Garthok and Xeka's forces. Their fleets, too, were being hit hard, but were holding; it was clear that this was the main thrust of the enemy attack.

So they would fall back, as they had too many times over the past few days, exposing more of the League's planets to Alliance conquest. They would continue their hit and run resistance to the engorged UAE fleet, even if Telan was beginning to fear that it was futile.

Since Billy had helped form the League of Light and thus freed Eltar, Admiral Telan had made something of a study of the young human's home planet. Its various cultures and customs had been interesting, but given his own life's path he had found their wars of more interest still, and none so much as the conflict known as the Second World War.

Aside from the UAE's conquest, World War Two was the single largest war humanity had ever fought, and Telan had discovered a surprising number of parallels between this campaign and the League's struggle against the United Alliance of Evil. Perhaps the most striking of the similarities he had found was the failure of the other powers to crush the totalitarian regimes in their infancy, when the cost would have been small. Eltar, Aquitar, and all the rest had made exactly the same mistake, ignoring the growing threat posed by Dark Specter's alliance until it was almost too late.

One man, however, had recognized the danger on Earth, one man for whom the Eltarian had developed a profound admiration and respect. Winston Churchill had been First Lord of the Admiralty of his nation when the war had begun, and although his naval forces had sailed Earth's oceans rather than cruising through the void of space, there was enough alike to spark a feeling of kinship in Admiral Telan.

It was one of Churchill's most famous quotes, in fact, which echoed in his mind now as he gave the order to withdraw: "We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."

It was a spirit and sentiment which echoed the admiral's own thoughts back to him. He had suffered subjugation and slavery once already; he would not do so again. When his fleet was pushed back to Eltar and Aquitar, when they could fall back no farther, when the flagship he commanded was too badly damaged to fight on, then his crew could avail themselves of the shuttles and escape pods if they wished. He would stay, and burn with his ship.

He had already sent his final message to his son, in case it did indeed come to that. In the meantime, in the midst of this death and despair, he would cling to the hope that they might yet somehow be victorious, and thus he would follow another of Churchill's pieces of advice: "If you find yourself going through Hell, keep going."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

For a time complete silence and stillness reigned in the room. No one spoke or moved, each one of them awed into simultaneous muteness and immobility by this spectacular display of the Great Power.

Then, still lying on the operating table, Cestria slowly reached out and lightly rested her fingers on her husband's golden wolf crest.

That broke the spell. Everyone began to speak, asking questions, exclaiming excitedly, and all clustering around Billy and Cestria. The newly transformed Ranger removed his helmet, bent down, and kissed Cestria deeply, unconcerned by the observers.

When at last he broke the kiss his first words were, surprisingly, to Healer Verok.

"Please give Cestria a complete examination. When we used the Great Power to bring Zordon back to life it worked flawlessly, but we shouldn't take any chances here."

Leaning again toward Cestria he told her, "I need to talk to the Rangers. I'll be right back."

A small, sad smile slid across her face as she looked up at this human she had married, this human that she loved.

"No, you won't," she whispered. "But I understand; I was a Ranger too." She took his right hand, squeezed it through the white glove he was now wearing . . . and let it go.

His helmet still tucked under his arm, Billy led the Light Rangers back to the Command Chamber before turning to face them. Then Delphine began the conversation.

"Billy, this is the armor you received when you won the Great Power, is it not?"

"Yes, it is," the genius admitted, "but I shouldn't have it back! The negative proton energy I absorbed in the Command Center's explosion made it impossible for me to assume the Gold Ranger powers or retain the Great Power."

"But with the Great Power, nothing is impossible" Delphine quoted him, and that was an argument for which the genius had no answer.

Nor could he deny how good it felt to be a Ranger again, to be able to feel the Great Power within him, energizing and renewing him.

He wouldn't trade his time with Cestria for anything. He loved his wife more than he would have believed possible. Choosing to remain on Aquitar to be with her was the best decision of his life, just as creating the Turbo powers had been the worst.

Yet he couldn't deny that he had missed being Ranger, all the way back to the time he had first been without powers. It was like . . . it was like being reborn.

"Billy, now that you've got your powers back," T.J. hesitated for a moment, then continued. "Will you be coming with us to fight the Psycho Rangers?"

The other Light Rangers looked intently at him, all save Justin, who appeared to be studying the floor.

It had been so long . . . he was out of practice, if not out of shape. Without him, though, the Light Rangers would be outnumbered by the Psycho Rangers. Great Power on their side or not, that was a risk with its future that the galaxy could not afford to take.

And here was his chance to truly redeem himself for what he'd done, to fix the mistake he'd made. Maybe that was why the Great Power had been restored to him in the first place.

"Yes, I will," he answered firmly. He turned and went to the Viewing Globe, quickly arranging for a shuttle to be taken to the Rangers' docking bay. "We'll talk on the way," he told the other Rangers as he headed for the door.

"Why don't we teleport instead of taking a ship?" Cassie questioned.

"One of the biggest advantages we have is that they don't know we're coming," Billy explained. "We can't give that edge up by teleporting in. At the rate they're advancing, we should be able to reach them in a few hours."

As they passed the medical bay, Billy fought down the urge to go in and say good-bye to his wife. He had several reasons for this. He had no intention of dying out there, not if he could avoid it, so no final farewell was necessary. She already understood what he was doing, what he had to do. She was in the middle of being examined by Healer Verok and he shouldn't interrupt that.

Mostly, however, he failed to say good-bye to Cestria because, if he saw her face again, he wasn't sure he'd be able to leave.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Justin Stewart awoke to find his left hand completely restored. Slowly he made a fist then relaxed his hand, testing each of his fingers by moving them one at a time and individually. He had complete motor control without even a twinge of pain!

To say the seventeen year-old was profoundly relieved would have been an understatement, yet he wasted little time in thankfulness for his healing; the self-mutilation of his hand had not been the greatest loss and deprivation he had suffered while in captivity.

Ignoring the medical Quantron's entreaty to lay back and rest, he left the bed only to be overcome by a fit of dizziness, likely a side-effect of the anesthesia and hopefully a short-lived one. As quickly as he could he made his way to his shipboard lab and there repaired the connections in his morpher which Billy had severed. When the rest of the Psycho Rangers teleported back onboard ship the Blue Psycho Ranger was waiting in the wardroom to greet them.

Or rather, he was waiting to greet _one_ of them.

"Justin!" Fred exclaimed enthusiastically. "Good to see you up and about, man!" The all-concealing helmet tilted slightly, like Fred was looking down at Justin's hands, and there was a soft sigh of relief.

"Finally!" Tommy snarled. "Now that you're back try to actually do your part. We'll need every Ranger when we reach Aquitar and Eltar, even you."

With that greeting Tommy departed, followed by the Green, Yellow and Pink Psycho Rangers, leaving the remaining two alone.

"I hope you know how much you've impressed me, Fred," Justin said to his only friend.

"Hey, what are friends for? And if Rita hadn't come to heal you voluntarily, I would have dragged her here."

"No, that's not what I meant, but thanks. You impressed me with your self-control, being with Tommy this long without killing him."

"That was a lot harder. How did you manage it for so long?"

After they'd reached Justin's room and he had sealed the door, he answered his ally's query.

"Well, for most of that time I was set to the same emotional level as the others, and it's odd, but verbal stuff like that didn't bother me much then. You'd think it would be the other way around, that I'd kill anyone who said one cross word to me. But I just shrugged it off. There were the Light Rangers to destroy, plus plenty of people in the GLL to kill, and that was always the focus of my psychosis."

"That's not to say we didn't fight among ourselves. There've been plenty of brawls, but it never got lethal. Other Psycho Rangers would break it up, and maybe we knew we needed each other to kill the people we really wanted dead."

"The one I really want dead is the one who took you prisoner," Fred confided seriously.

"That was the Phantom Range," Justin told him. "We haven't seen him in so long that I'd just about forgotten him, but it was definitely him."

"Think he'll be with the Light Rangers when they finally come out of hiding?"

"They haven't yet?" Justin asked, stunned.

"No, we haven't seen any sign of them since Morrigan."

"I saw Billy, his wife and Phantom while I was in their base on Aquitar, but I never saw any of the Light Rangers, except for spare bodies for Carlos and Ashley."

This didn't make any sense! He'd naturally assumed the Light Rangers were out fighting, and falling, to the Psycho Rangers while he was Billy's prisoner. Yet the Psycho Rangers had ravaged over a dozen worlds by now, and the Light Rangers apparently hadn't appeared once to try to protect any of them.

Maybe they had been sheltering on Aquitar after all and were just too ashamed to show themselves to him in the wake of their great defeat? No, he knew himself, or at least the self he used to be, and there was no way the thirteen year-old android version of him wouldn't have come in whimpering and whining, asking how could he do this, blah, blah, blah! Or if he wasn't there, T.J. or Cassie would have come in to see him.

So they weren't out defending the Galactic League's worlds and they weren't on Aquitar. Maybe they were gathered together on Eltar, ready to defend it to the last? That would definitely make sense for the Robot Rangers, since that was exactly what they'd gone offline doing the last time the Zordon's precious home planet was invaded.

No, that didn't work either. Waiting to make their last stand on Eltar would mean sacrificing the populations of all of the other worlds, including Aquitar. Quite aside from their mentor Billy wanting to protect his beloved walking fishstick, it was the Rangers' complete _inability_ to sacrifice a mere few hundred insignificant miners which had led them into the obvious trap on Morrigan. There was no way they would leave the entire population of the Galactic League of Light save the Eltarians to die or be enslaved!

"Justin, what is it?"

The question jolted him from his train of thought, though not before he reached an unsettling conclusion.

"They're up to something, Fred. The Rangers, I mean. That's why they're not at the front or on Aquitar."

"What do you think they're doing?"

"I don't know, that's the problem!"

The Light Rangers had been savaged, losing almost half their number. What could they do at this point to help the GLL's situation?

The most advantageous move possible would be to kill Dark Specter. That would likely start a civil war within the UAE and thus lead to the salvation of the GLL. If the Rangers had any possible way of slaying Dark Specter, though, they would have done it years ago! _HE_ hadn't even managed to figure out a way to kill the Grand Monarch of Evil yet, not that he'd had much time free to devote to that particular problem.

If the Light Rangers wanted to go after the most powerful being in the galaxy, though, more power to them! He would just have to ensure that he would succeed to the throne should they actually knock Dark Specter off it. How to make certain of that, though . . .?

"Fred, you said you got Rita to come here. How, by threatening her?"

"Yeah, I told her if she didn't come to heal you I'd drag her here and I wouldn't be gentle about it."

Dark Specter might be the most powerful being in the galaxy, but the Gold Psycho Ranger was definitely the most powerful Ranger. More powerful than Zedd, Rita, Mondo, Astronema, or any of the other leaders under the Emperor of Evil.

"The Rangers could be going after Dark Specter."

"You're kidding! They couldn't even stand up to _us_, much less him!" Fred protested.

"I know. I don't think it's likely, but we need to be prepared."

Giving a quiet order through his helmet comm. to the _Envenomed Blades'_ communications Quantron, the teenager continued speaking to his friend.

"Right now you should be receiving the teleportation coordinates of all of the UAE's leaders through your helmet comm. Store the locations in your staff! If Dark Specter perishes you'll need to teleport to each UAE member, one at a time, to secure their allegiance."

"They won't all fold as easily as Rita did," Fred warned his friend, his attention mostly on the incoming string of names and numbers.

"That's why you should probably go to Zedd first. You'll have to kill him, and that will give the others something to think about. Save Mondo and Gasket for last; right now they're the most valuable."

"Hey, there's no known location for Darkonda."

"Darkonda?" Justin asked, his voice suddenly a snarl. With all that had gone on since then the Mephistian mercenary's treachery had almost slipped the Blue Psycho Ranger's mind.

Almost.

"Yeah, he was the one Dark Specter assigned to find you. He's probably out searching the interior League worlds."

"I doubt that," Justin countered acidly, "considering he was the person who let me get captured in the first place."

"What?!" Fred exclaimed, Justin having gained his full attention now.

"He could have helped me against the Phantom Ranger! Instead he stood there and did nothing!" Justin spat out.

"Why, though? Do you think he's working for the GLL?"

"I think he's only ever really worked for himself," Justin noted thoughtfully. "But he might have made some kind of deal to hand me over." He thought for another moment before shaking his head.

"No, with the Phantom Ranger around they didn't need his cooperation. I think he just saw an opportunity to be rid of me and took it. He didn't want me becoming Dark Specter's favorite."

"We'll kill him," Fred promised.

"We will, when we can find him."

"Shouldn't you tell Dark Specter about this?"

"No. Darkonda's a great liar, and we were the only two people there. All he has to say is that he didn't understand what was happening or wasn't quick enough to stop it. And our Grand Monarch won't be happy with the information I had to give up to buy enough time to get away."

"How _did_ you escape?" Fred asked, curiosity overwhelming him.

"It wasn't easy," Justin admitted. "Billy had me trapped in a level five forcefield, one so strong it even blocked the power transmission to my morpher. I tried to sabotage it with the drinking water they gave me, but that didn't work, so I went to my Plan B."

"They had to have two different diameter settings on their forcefield in order to be able to give me food and drink. So when they were constricting it again I stuck my left fingers under the emitter. It sliced them off like a laser."

"You really did do that to yourself! But how did that help you escape?"

"Billy's wife was bringing me the food. When she saw half my hand chopped off she shut down the forcefield to give me first aid."

"I'm guessing you were suitably grateful," Fred said sarcastically, grinning beneath his helmet.

"Oh, yes, I was grateful for the chance to crush her flimsy Aquitan skull! I wish I could have seen Billy's face when he got back!"

"At the rate we're going you'll be able to see it soon enough," Fred pointed out.

"That brings me to one of the other thing the Rangers could be doing: they might be coming after us."

"Let them come!" the Gold Psycho Ranger proclaimed. "We'll finish them off!"

"No, if they were going to face us head-on, they would have done it already. They'll be trying something else, maybe through infiltration or sabotage of our ship."

Again the Blue Psycho Ranger contacted the ship, ordering an immediate diagnostic on all systems and assigning spare Quantrons to sweep the ship for anything out of the ordinary. He also arranged for a shifting pattern of encircling movement and scanning of the Ranger vessel by the other ships at the center of the fleet.

"Fred, for now, don't demorph no matter what. If they do somehow make it onboard we won't be caught off guard, and if they manage to destroy the ship we're a lot more likely to survive."

"Do you know what it's going to be like trying to sleep in this thing?" Fred asked incredulously, motioning to his armor.

"It beats being dead."

"Okay, point," the other teen conceded. "So they're either going after us or Dark Specter?"

"Those would be the two most vital targets. The problem is they shouldn't have the power to face either one. The only thing that makes sense is if they have some sort of game-changer, maybe a new invention of Billy's."

"Something like I was for the Psycho Rangers," Fred summed up.

"Exactly," Justin agreed.

"If it was just a new invention of Billy's, though, wouldn't the Light Rangers have been there while you were?"

"You're right. Maybe they had to get a new part for something he invented. No, then he wouldn't have sent all of the Rangers. Sending them all suggests they were expecting resistance or that they needed to be there for whatever was happening. If Tommy hadn't already killed Ninjor, I'd think they were going to him. We need more information!"

For the third time in ten minutes Justin contacted the bridge, asking for sensor records of all teleports from Aquitar since the second the Light Rangers had teleported back there from Morrigan. When he received the results he swore feelingly and at length.

"Good news?" the Gold Psycho Ranger asked dryly.

"Nothing! There have been no teleports out of Aquitar since the Rangers retreated there."

"So either you're wrong and they really were there, or-"

"Or they left on a ship to cover their tracks," Justin finished the thought.

"Psycho Rangers to the ward room for deployment," a Quantron voice announced over both of their helmet comms.

"Looks like this is one mystery we'll have to solve later," Fred quipped.

"Let's hope we solve it in time."

"You think whatever they're cooking up is that dangerous?"

"Well, the odds of success are probably low, whatever they're planning, or else they'd have tried it sooner. But after we lost the Turbo powers and the Power Chamber it looked like our odds of success were zero. The others still managed to find Andros and become Astro Rangers."

"Who were then crushed by the Psycho Rangers," Fred reminded him. "We just have to make sure history repeats itself, whatever the Light Rangers do."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

"The Blue Psycho Ranger escaped Aquitar."

"How disappointing!" Darkonda exclaimed on the small communications viewscreen. "Apparently the Galactic League can't do anything right!"

"He hasn't spoken of your involvement yet."

"I wasn't involved; the kidnapping simply happened too fast for me to react," Darkonda claimed innocently.

"Save it for Dark Specter, if he calls you on it. I don't think the Blue Psycho Ranger would have been a problem anyway."

"Then we disagree," Darkonda snarled.

"Stick to the plan, mercenary! We don't take action until the GLL falls."

"As you command, my Princess. Or should I say my partner?" Darkonda asked, right before signing off.

Astronema, Princess of Evil, scowled at the parting gibe. Allying with this mercenary scum had become a necessary when he had discovered her plans to usurp Dark Specter's rule. Of course she could have destroyed him, but then she would have had to answer to Dark Specter herself. And in plotting to overthrow the most powerful creature in the galaxy, his help actually had been valuable.

Not that she trusted him, of course. Once they managed to topple Dark Specter, Darkonda would follow. For now, though, he definitely had his uses.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Billy began explaining his rough and ready plan the moment the shuttle lifted off. Once he was finished Aurico voiced the single question in all of their minds.

"That's it?"

"I know it's simple, but I think it will work and there's no time to come up with anything better.

Slowly the Aquitan Red Ranger nodded, giving his unspoken approval, which relaxed the other Light Rangers.

All save one.

"They'll probably demorph when you kill them. If that happens, make sure you destroy their Psycho Morphers," Billy instructed.

"But weren't you saying we might not have to kill them?" Cassie questioned.

"We can't count on that, Cassie, especially given the likely timing. Do what you have to, and that includes getting out of there if there's no other choice."

"Wouldn't that spoil the plan?" T.J. wanted to know.

"Depends on how fast your targets make it back, but I don't want to lose anyone else here."

That put a pall over the conversation, stirring memories of all who had fallen in this war, from Zordon to Tideus.

"We'll be rendezvousing with and switching over to another ship before heading on to Tegalak. It'll be a tight fit, but it's our best way onto the planet."

Then their mentor's gaze fell on one Ranger in particular, the one who had consistently refused to meet his gaze.

"Justin, could I speak with you alone?" he asked, and received a quick, tense nod in reply.

When the two were in stern of the vessel Billy removed his helmet.

"Justin, please look at me," the young man asked gently.

Slowly the Blue Great Power Ranger lifted his head, his black visor eye-level with the other Blue Great Power Ranger. Billy would have preferred for Justin to remove his own helmet as well, but wasn't about to ask the android for that; if he felt better, safer, remaining at Billy's height and having his face covered, than so be it.

"I need to apologize to you, Justin. I'm sorry for what I said when you arrived. What the human Justin Stewart did isn't your fault, and I shouldn't have acted like it was."

"I understand. I came from him, from when he was thirteen. I thought that I, that he, would never do anything like this, but he _did_! He's been a Psycho Ranger for years! He helped kill most of the Astro Rangers! He tried to kill Cestria! And that means I could-."

"Of course you couldn't!" Billy interrupted. "I told you earlier, Justin is doing this because of a spell! It's not his choice and it's not his fault! It would be like if someone kidnapped you and reprogrammed you to serve the United Alliance of Evil," Billy analogized, not missing the quick shudder that went through the android at the thought.

"You'd be a victim then, not a villain. And so is Justin."

"Don't you want him dead? After what he did to Cestria?"

"I want him stopped," Billy said firmly. "I don't want him to hurt anyone else, and because I know you, I know the real Justin, and I know he'd want the same thing. I hope we can save him, but if we can't, we do have to stop him."

"I know. You're right, that's what I, what _he_, would want."

"So do you forgive me?"

"Of course I do!" the android answered indignantly.

Billy reached out to clap him on the shoulder, and in an unusually impulsive move pulled him in for a hug. Justin returned the embrace with such force that Billy could actually feel it through his armor.

Then they returned to the rest of the Rangers, arriving just in time for their rendezvous with the other ship and a much-needed reunion.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Being an inhospitable, largely desert planet, there was really no place for the populace to flee to on Tegalak. Those who had been able to make it off-world had already fled, but a substantial number remained within the capital city. That wouldn't have posed a problem, except that the suicidal fools refused to immediately surrender to the United Alliance of Evil.

It was disappointing, really, how few planetary populations had the sense to submit at once, even with the bloody swathe the Psycho Rangers had been cutting through the ground forces in their path. Of course their stubbornness was also taking a considerable toll on the UAE's Quantron forces, but with the Psycho Rangers engaged in the fray the ultimate outcome of each invasion had never yet been in doubt.

Even with his dialed-down psychosis, it was thrilling and satisfying on a primal level to charge the entrenched defenders on the city's northern ends, answering the fusillade of fire with a laser storm of their own.

Together the Psycho Rangers smashed through the periphery, the Quantrons advancing behind them, and then they began destroying the next layer of defenders.

Calaspar, the capital city, had wide, smoothly-paved avenues and buildings an average of six stories tall. Like vermin the GLL soldiers infested the street area and inhabited multiple floors of multiple buildings. Fred used his power to smash entire squads down onto the street before them, while Justin focused on seeking out and destroying the heavier weapon emplacements. Normal hand weapons were less than nothing to the Psycho Rangers, but more potent weapons could conceivably threaten them.

Tommy followed up begrudgingly on those downed by the Gold Psycho Ranger, delivering the death blows, while Kat concentrating on the rooftop cannons which were being used to down the UAE's fighters.

Tanya used her sling to guard the approaching Quantrons, picking off soldiers who tried to envelop the robots while avoiding the Psycho Rangers. Adam launched himself up and through at third story window, laying about him with his staff and cutting down all within reach, including one foolish enough to die shouting something into his comlink.

The Green Psycho Ranger shook his head in disgust. Not that it would have done the soldier any good to try to attacking, of course, but wouldn't it have been better to die fighting back instead of talking?

Shrugging the idiocy off, Adam blasted a large hole through the ceiling, preparing to literally carry his slaughter up to the next level. Before he could leap, however, a blue-armored figure charged out at him from the hall and with one swing of a great, round warhammer, smashed him through three separate walls.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

There! Tanya could have sworn she saw, just for an instant, a white-armored figure among the group still sniping at the Quantrons from an alley further down, on the edge of the city.

Skidding to a stop at the mouth of the alley, she unleashed a salvo of shots from her sling, causing that worthless White Ranger to crumple and also downing the soldiers who had apparently already been deserting the Aquitan, fleeing down the alleyway. Smirking in satisfaction she stalked like a cat toward the downed Light Ranger, intent on administering the coup de grace.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

A high powered laser beam struck the Pink Psycho Ranger squarely, knocking her down into the dust. Snarling up at her attacker, she saw the person on the roof among the soldiers was garbed in Pink armor!

So the at least one of the worthless Rangers had come out of hiding! This would be her most satisfying kill since this entire offensive had started! With a quick command into her comm. Kat was teleported to the rooftop.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Flames poured forth from the Gold Psycho Ranger's staff, followed by a multitude of screams. Defenders were pouring into the avenue they'd chosen as their line of attack from side-allies, and kindling infernos in such passages was only good tactical sense.

And it was fun!

Justin had been right about the pleasure of a well-acted, well-thought out betrayal, but Fred honestly preferred the direct approach, going in as a juggernaut and crushing everything in his path. He figured that was partly due to the psycho influence of his neural net and partly just his nature.

It was surely the latter which led to him pausing in his teleportational blur attacks, taking more time to enjoy himself and appreciate the results of his fiery handiwork. Let Tommy take on the resisters directly in front of them rather than just finishing those he had already taken out. Maybe that way the opportunity he and Justin were looking for might come along . . .

As he drew level with the next alley he caught a sight that made him start. Not another horde of troops, as he had expected, but a single figure in red armor, standing at the far junction: a Light Ranger!

Even as he aimed his staff his enemy darted out of sight down another street and behind a building.

With his particular powers catching Red Rover would be child's play, but first he'd better let Justin know what was happening.

"Justin! I saw one of the Red Light Rangers! He's trying to get away, but I can catch him. Be on your guard, though: they're here."

"Wait! Just one Ranger and he ran away from you?"

"That's right," Fred acknowledged.

"Don't go after him! Do not chase him! This stinks of a trap!"

"Yeah, I know, but don't you think I can bust through it?" the other teen asked, a little disappointed that his friend doubted the extent of his power. After all, he'd kicked Justin's ass every time they'd sparred as Rangers, hadn't he?

"Probably you can, but let's not take any chances. Whatever they've cooked up, I'd much rather face it with you at my side. Please, get back here."

"On my way," Fred reassured him, and in seconds he was only a few feet from the Blue Psycho Ranger.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

"He didn't fall for it," Aurico reported when the expected pursuit never materialized.

Billy exhaled in frustration. "Understood. Prepare to execute Plan Beta," he ordered.

The initial plan had been to lure each of the Psycho Rangers away into one-on-one fights with a Light Ranger until Tommy was left by himself. The stratagem had bled off more than half the Psycho Rangers, but it was clearly wouldn't work anymore.

T.J. had suggested ambushing the first Psycho Ranger with their full manpower, then repeating the trick as many times as they could, but Billy had vetoed that idea. They didn't have thousands of tons of metallic ore overhead, making teleportation out impossible. They couldn't trap their enemies the way they had been trapped; they had to let the Psycho Rangers trap themselves.

Even a Psycho Ranger would teleport away if he found himself alone facing more than half a dozen enemy Rangers, and he would certainly alert his fellow Psycho Rangers.

A one-on-one fight, though, that was a different story. The UAE's Rangers were literally minimally restrained psychopaths with a special hatred of the Light Rangers. Savagely attacking was in their very nature, and sharing was not. Of course they would leap at the chance to kill a lone Light Ranger solo and would not dream of sacrificing that pleasure and honor by calling in their comrades. After all, hadn't it been proven throughout this war that Light Rangers could only beat back the Psycho Rangers when the odds were two to one in their favor? No, a Psycho Ranger would handle a single Light Ranger on his own and be loath to flee such a seemingly uneven encounter.

At least that was the premise Billy had been relying on, counting on the Psychos' aggression, selfishness and pride to snare them. And three of them had indeed been caught, though at grave risk to each of the Light Rangers who had played bait.

Billy was sure from his own memory that the Great Power would be enough for a Ranger to go toe-to-toe with a Psycho Ranger, and he had emphasized to all of his teammates the importance of their own survival. Then, too, they didn't have to win their respective fights; they just had to keep them going until Tommy died.

No, until he killed Tommy. That was what he would have to do.

That Tommy had been his leader, his teammate, his friend, was something he had to set aside. It was the same as back when Tommy had been Rita's evil Green Ranger; he had to be stopped. This time, though, there was no Sword of Darkness to blast to release Tommy from the spell. This time the darkness was truly inside him, and there was only one way to get it out.

As with Justin, the real Tommy would want it this way if he'd been given the choice. Billy had to remember that!

Letting out another breath, Billy heard the single positioning report for which he'd been waiting. Switching his communicator over to Admiral Telan's retreating ship, he said, "Plan Beta: execute."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Fred was at his side (where the Gold Psycho Ranger belonged, a tiny voice in his head whispered), and Tommy was just up ahead. But where were the others? He didn't see them anywhere.

"Psycho Pink, what's your status?" he asked, hoping for an angry insult in response.

He received nothing.

A sick feeling began to grow in his gut, but one failure to answer didn't mean anything; it wasn't like the Psycho Rangers were big on radio discipline, or any discipline at all, really.

"Psycho Green, respond."

"Psycho Yellow, respond!"

Someone would have answered. Out of the three of them, at least one would have raged at him. They were either locked in a serious battle, one from which they couldn't afford to take time out to talk, or they had somehow been captured, or, impossible as it seemed . . . they were dead.

Screw it, he wasn't waiting around to find out which it was!

"_Envenomed Blade_," he began, when three columns of color streaked down and landed in the avenue. For an instant he thought that the order he'd been about to give for their ship to teleport the others here was redundant, that they had already had themselves teleported here.

As those teleported materialized, however, he realized the beams had been the wrong colors.

After that they were upon him.

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	13. Chapter 13

ΩΩΩΩΩ

With the three walls he'd already crashed through, the Green Psycho Ranger's momentum was sufficiently reduced that he hit the floor in the last room, thus remaining within the building instead of plunging down to the street below.

Adam surged back to his feet with a roar, doing his best to shake off the aftereffects of the blow he'd taken. His dominant feeling after being downed in such a way was neither fear nor worry, but a seething, murderous rage! That Robot Ranger was going to be in _pieces_ by the time he finished with it! Where was his Lance?!

A quick, frustrated glance around the small room showed no sign of the Green Psycho Ranger's signature weapon, neither on the floor nor under the shelf jutting out from three of the walls and holding what looked like computers. He must have lost his grip on it somewhere during his flight.

Then the door slid open and the Blue Turbo Ranger stomped in, his massive war-hammer clenched in his gloved hands. It was definitely a new weapon for him, and his armor had some different touches too. It looked like-

_It looked like the armor bestowed by the Great Power_!

The head of the hammer went up and came whistling down toward the Green Psycho Ranger's helmet, and though he caught the metal shaft of the weapon with both hands, he found the best he could do was to merely slow the weapon's descent. Its impact was jarring, sending his head ringing, and for the first time in almost two years, amid all of the bloodlust and driving fury which had become his natural state, Adam Parks felt a shiver of fear.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

"So long, Ranger!" Tanya spat out as she stood looming over the fallen white figure, her Energy Sling leveled at Delphine's head. As she pulled back on the Sling, however, her target moved, one leg lashing up to strike her wrist and deflect the shot, while the other blurred out in a kick which nearly broke Psycho Yellow's left knee.

She stumbled and fell as the prone Delphine seized her by the wrists, and caught her with a boot against her stomach. The next thing she knew she was being propelled up and over the Light Ranger, landing hard on her back. She flipped to her feet and whirled to face her foe, but the Aquitan had already drawn her laser pistol and put a bolt directly into the Yellow Psycho Ranger's weapon.

Dropping the now-sparking, useless piece of technology, Tanya charged forward, determined to pound the life from Delphine herself.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

"Withdraw!" Cassie shouted to the soldiers on the roof. They'd already played their part, serving as window dressing for this trap; now it was time for them to seek out enemies they could win against rather than trying to help take down the Pink Psycho Ranger. That was her job, and she finally felt able to do it!

Pink's first punch was deflected, as was her second and third. Cassie retaliated with a side kick to the stomach, followed by a roundhouse kick to the helmet. Her stunned adversary fell back and Cassie closed in.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Though he hadn't voiced his doubts to anyone, Billy had worried a great deal about whether he would be able to pull his own weight in this battle. He had kept up with his martial arts skills under the tutelage of various Light Rangers (the only prudent choice, given that the entire galaxy was at war, and a surprisingly effective daily stress-reliever), but he hadn't been in a life or death fight for literally years and feared his rustiness might inadvertently doom himself and his friends. Yet the ranks of the Light Rangers had been tragically depleted; now that he was in possession of the Great Power again, how could he not participate in the attack and do his best?

Now, in the heat of battle, the tension and fear felt like old, familiar friends to him. Much as he had assured his former teammates, the Light Rangers, his wife, and even himself that he was content that his Rangering days were behind him, the truth was that some part of him had missed this, had longed for the ecstasy of feeling again the Power flowing through him and the pride of knowing he was once more on the front line against the forces of darkness.

He could acknowledge that truth to himself now. Deny them though he might, however, Billy had never been one to let his emotions to overwhelm his intellect, and so he had made sure that Aurico was tasked with taking on the Gold Psycho Ranger while T.J. fought Tommy. His heart demanded he be the one to take responsibility for the catastrophe he had caused, that he bear the awful burden of killing his old friend; his mind told him that to try would be nothing less than vain self-indulgence. Tommy had been a master of the martial arts while Billy was still a beginner, and he outstripped the Blue Ranger's amount of combat experience by more than two to one. Tommy would have defeated him.

Justin might as well, to be honest, but at least he felt he had a chance against the Blue Psycho Ranger. He certainly had the motivation, given he had inadvertently allowed the teenager return to evil. Oddly enough that made it easier for him to go all out against his opponent, secure in the knowledge that Justin would have wanted to be stopped by any means necessary.

Of course the fact that the Blue Psycho Ranger had nearly killed the woman he loved likewise lent strength and passion to his attacks.

After using it to throw off the first blow directed against him, Billy had almost immediately split his Power Lance into its secondary form of two trident sais, giving him a decided advantage against his foe's single Psycho Ax. The sais, created by the Great Power, stood up to the impact of the ax, allowing him to both parry and strike. Once, twice his sais scored against the Psycho Ranger armor, sending Justin back a step.

As the teenager summoned his Psycho Spin Billy jabbed both sais into the mentally-influenced Ranger's thighs, halting the maneuver. On the tip of his left sai beaded a single, tiny drop of crimson, to match the almost unnoticeable wound his opponent now sported.

A sudden, enormous impact from behind sent Billy down to his knees, but almost immediately he launched himself forward, head-butting Justin in the torso as he stabbed viciously with both blades.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Something was _wrong _here.

Fred Kelman had sensed that within the first few seconds of the Light Rangers' counterattack, but it had taken him almost a full minute to realize exactly what was amiss.

The enemy Rangers just weren't going down as they had on Morrigan. The one he was facing was blocking the majority of his blows, and striking with far more force than last time! Fred was still considerably stronger, tougher and faster, of course (he was the **GOLD** Psycho Ranger!), but the gap separating them had greatly narrowed. On top of that the Red Light Ranger he was facing was proving to be an extremely and irritatingly skilled combatant.

A vicious kick to the Aquitan's torso gave him a bit of breathing room, and that's when he noticed the gold seal on his enemy's chest. He'd seen that form of Ranger armor before.

That was what the Rangers had been wearing when they'd destroyed Ivan Ooze.

Whatever form of the Power they'd employed then, they were using it again now and it was clearly far superior to their previous energy source.

Almost on the heels of that realization Fred shot a glance toward Justin, taking in his friend's situation. He blurred in that direction, halted with pinpoint precision right behind the dueling duo, and smashed his staff across the back of his friend's foe.

The Blue Light Ranger dropped, but then hurled himself forward into Justin and Fred was forced to turn and defend against a lighting quick strike from his own opponent.

Their enhancement wouldn't matter in the end. Easy or hard, either way the Light Rangers were going down.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

To his ever-increasing anger, Adam found himself continually stymied and decidedly on the defensive in this battle. He'd soon been forced to dive back through the last hole he'd made in the walls in order to search for his Lance.

Even regaining his weapon had proven insufficient to shift the momentum of the fight in his favor! He couldn't generate enough force to block that asteroid-impact hammer and he found himself forced to constantly dodge and give ground before its seemingly unstoppable swings.

The idea flitted across his mind of gradually wearing the Blue Light Ranger down, scoring hits of opportunity when possible and relying on their cumulative effect to secure victory. In his previous Rangering career he likely would done exactly that. Now, however, the mere prospect of having to resort to such a long, weak way of handling the situation only fueled his rage!

Twirling his Lance in his right hand for a moment, Adam unleashed a powerful energy blast from his left. The Blue Light Ranger staggered back a step, but then lashed out with his hammer, catching the shaft of the Lance and again sending it flying from the Green Psycho Ranger's grasp.

With a howl the Green Psycho Ranger unleashed his maximum energy output from both hands. The Blue Light Ranger was sent tumbling back, a smoking hole in the chest area of his costume.

Holding out his left hand, Adam called the Lance to it and strode forward, already raising it to impale his prone opponent.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Delphine knocked aside the Yellow Psycho Ranger's one-two punch combo, riposting with a side kick to the stomach. Taking advantage of the momentary breather, she leveled her laser blaster and began firing bolt after bolt into Tanya's helmet.

In the past the weapon had barely made the Psycho Rangers flinch, but with the addition of the Great Power there actually seemed to be the beginnings of a hole in the helmet!

Falling into a crouch Tanya lunged forward in a tackle which carried them both back to the ground. Rearing up she wrapped her hands around the Aquitan's throat and began to throttle her.

The White Light Ranger coughed and choked, her own hands instantly going to break the grip, but she couldn't manage to undo the adamantine stranglehold around her neck. Black dots swam in her vision as the Yellow Psycho Ranger snarled in triumphant satisfaction. A lightheaded dizziness swept over the Aquitan; she feared was less than a minute from passing out.

Fumbling with an arm already feeling disconnected from her, she reached back and drew her sword from its scabbard.

She couldn't swing it, there wasn't enough room, but if she could reverse it . . . she flipped it in her hand, using too much force. No! She felt the grip slip and fall away, and she managed to catch it near the base of the blade, holding so tightly to the hilt that the edge cut deeply into her fingers and palm. Ignoring the pain, ignoring the sensation of everything around her floating away, she used all of the strength she had left to bring her sword up and forward, thrusting it into the Yellow Psycho Ranger like an oversized dagger.

There was a shrill, piercing scream and the crushing pressure around her windpipe vanished. She gulped in air and felt the weight of her opponent's form leave her as well.

Her body insisted she needed to just lie back and breath, but she knew better. Rising with a stumble, Delphine saw her sword embedded at least an inch deep into the Yellow Psycho Ranger's chest, caught between two ribs and sticking straight outward like some bizarre magic trick. A thick trickle of blood ran downward from the wound, staining the yellow uniform.

The visor of the Yellow Psycho Ranger's helmet slowly craned upward from the sword to regard the panting White Light Ranger. Knowing what was coming, knowing she had no way of surviving the furious assault about to overwhelm her, Delphine took a step forward and executed a high snap kick, the sole of her boot striking the pommel of the sword and driving the blade in to the halfway point.

For an endless instant the two females stood stock still in a frozen tableau. Then the Yellow Psycho Ranger toppled face forward, the gore-stained lower end of the sword protruding from her the surface of her back like a tombstone.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The fight ranged across the rooftop, with Cassie getting the better of the Pink Psycho Ranger. Now that their physical abilities were close to equal, Kat was being beaten down by the Pink Light Ranger's greater hand-to-hand skill.

Until she disappeared.

Cassie quickly lashed out to the right, but a powerful kick from the left informed her of her error. Again she hit out at nothing and was hit in return.

Frantically the Robot Ranger's optical sensors swept the area, searching for any sign of her attacker.

She saw none, but to her horror she did see that not all of the soldiers had fled at her command. One remained at the controls of the anti-aircraft laser cannon, his face tight with fear as he continued to do his duty.

She took a step toward him, about to tell him again to run-

-and an energy arrow exploded out of her midsection.

Her arrows weren't that powerful! Especially not with the Great Power's armor! The Pink Psycho Ranger had to have enhanced it somehow-

The damage she had suffered was too extensive. She was going to go offline again. Once more she was going to be defeated in her struggle to defend a planet from the United Alliance of Evil.

No. Not again. Never again.

Channeling the last of her fading energy reserves into the motors of her arms and legs, she whirled and lurched forward, arms outstretched, running into an invisible mass.

Grabbing the Pink Psycho Ranger in a bear-hug, she screamed one word, hoping the soldier would understand.

"SHOOT!"

She heard the servo motors directing the laser cannon whine as they lowered the barrel as far downward as it would go.

Kat broke free, Cassie unable to maintain her bearhug.

Then a tremendous beam of light bisected both Pink Rangers.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Even as the frothing at the mouth Red Psycho Ranger, Tommy Oliver was still one hell of a swordsman.

T.J. struggled on against him, knowing his task to be the most important of all the Light Rangers. If he could defeat Tommy, the other Psycho Rangers would be freed!

This was a case of real life imitating chess, a pastime he enjoyed: put the king in checkmate and the game was won.

So T.J. fought sword to sword with the leader of the Psycho Rangers, balancing the fate of the galaxy on every clash of their weapons.

And as Tommy expertly parried and sliced at him, the Robot Ranger gradually came to a bleak realization: despite Great Power being on his side and his android advantages . . . he would not be able to overcome his opponent. The Red Psycho Ranger, literally the longest serving Ranger in the galaxy in one guise or another, was simply too good.

Billy had planned for that possibility, however, just as their genius mentor seemingly planned for everything. He had arranged a way for T.J. to cheat.

"Check!" T.J. shouted.

Neither Aurico nor Billy were in a position to help him, but the codeword hadn't been intended for them.

No, it was the Phantom Ranger who responded to his call, de-cloaking behind Tommy and blasting the Red Psycho Ranger repeatedly from behind. It had been his ship which had gotten the others here undetected and he had been nearby, waiting to act if the need arose. He was the final reserve of the Light Rangers.

Unlike his allies, however, the Phantom Ranger hadn't quested after and obtained the Great Power; his intelligence gathering role had been deemed too essential, not to mention the opportunity position had afforded him to abduct the Blue Psycho Ranger. Consequently, his laser pistol did almost no damage, the surprise merely rocking his target.

That was enough, however, for T.J. to strike the Psycho Sword from Tommy's hand with a blow from his sword. On his backswing he swung his weapon in an arc intended to literally decapitate the Psycho Rangers' leadership.

At the last instant, however, Tommy bent his knees, dropping his neck and causing T.J.'s blade to hit his helmet instead. The force was such that the Lightning sword bit into the tremendously hard metal of the Red Psycho Ranger's helmet—but not far enough for the edge to reach Tommy's skin.

Tommy went into almost a frenzy, sending T.J. sprawling with a hammer punch, seized the Lightning sword, and brought it around in a slashing blow going from the Phantom Ranger's shoulder down to his hip.

With his left hand he reached down and tore the great ruby from the Phantom Ranger's chest, ripping away the source of his power, only to be blasted from behind by T.J.'s inbuilt plasma projectors.

It was at that moment that Fred, frustrated by his infuriatingly resilient opponent, loosed a concussive blast of golden energy in all directions.

Every other figure on that area of the battlefield was smashed by the wave of power, like small sailing craft caught in a hurricane. They were flung against the buildings on either side of the street, and the fronts of those structures crumbled and broke under the impact of the Gold Psycho Ranger's all-encompassing attack.

Stepping imperiously forth from the sunken, cracked ground beneath his boots, the Gold Psycho Ranger's helmet first swung in Justin's direction. To his relief his friend had been knocked roughly a dozen feet from the opposing Blue Ranger and was moving, trying feebly to get up. The guilt he felt for not having warned Justin ahead of time was Fred's sole negative feeling at that moment; the rest of him was caught up in pure pride and exhilaration at his own might!

Turning back to his red-garbed enemy, the Gold Psycho Ranger blurred forward like a battering ram, crushing his pitiful foe between the stone the fool rested against and the even more unyielding Psycho armor.

The Phantom Ranger crawled to and regained his fallen ruby, moving to replace it in the chest cavity in his armor. Behind him the Red Psycho Ranger staggered upright, too slow to stop the Phantom Ranger.

But the Gold Psycho Ranger was not.

The head of his staff went through the Phantom Ranger's back and emerged, coated with gore, from the opening where the ruby would be placed.

Ignoring the aching and soreness flaring through him, ignoring Justin rising to his left like a dark thundercloud, Billy sprinted painfully toward the Gold and Red Psycho Rangers as T.J. let loose a concentrated blast of plasma.

His impulse had been to hit the Gold Psycho Ranger with everything he had, to take down that murdering monster once and for all. He nearly did exactly that, strategy be damned!

Yet killing the Gold Psycho Ranger wouldn't end this. You didn't waste your time taking the Queen, when you could take the King instead.

Sent once again to the ground by the blazing burst of plasma, Tommy sat up and stopped, his body suspended in place by the two lightning-flickering sais which had been driven into the left and right sides of his neck.

Crying without even realizing it, Billy twisted his sais, sawing at the spine, until his old friend's head fell free of its body.

No one moved then; no one even seemed to breath. All were still and silent as they bore witness to the end of Tommy Oliver, the Green Morphin Ranger, the White Zeo Ranger, the Red Turbo Ranger, and the Red Psycho Ranger.

Then a column of white light brought Delphine to the scene. Only a moment later another column of blue light arced down and formed itself into the Blue Robot Ranger.

Billy looked between the Gold and Blue Psycho Rangers, waiting for them to return to normal, perhaps to collapse in an agony of remorse.

Instead they themselves morphed into pillars of light and shot away into the sky.

Billy stared after them, unable to believe what he was seeing. Tommy's death was supposed to break the spell! It was supposed to return the Psycho Rangers to normal! How could it not have worked?!

Dropping his own head in despair, Billy saw something which horrified him.

Tommy's body had also been teleported away, but the teleporter locking onto the morpher signal had resulted in his former friend's severed head being left behind. That alone wasn't what had struck William Cranston with such terrible shock and horror, however.

With the activated morpher gone, the helmet it had created had also vanished. Beneath Tommy's dark hair, his unexpectedly pale face had same skin-surface implant cybernetic mindnet which marred the otherwise beautiful features of Astronema, Princess of Evil.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

**Notes**: My sincere and heartfelt apologies! I swear I have learned my lesson! Never, **NEVER** again will I start posting online a fanfic which I have not yet finished writing! I will do everything possible to make sure the wait for the next chapter is far shorter than the wait you had to endure for this chapter . . . assuming anyone is still reading .


	14. Chapter 14

Billy stood stock still, staring down at the gruesome sight in horrified comprehension, as the terrible revelations exploded one after another in his brilliant brain.

Tommy had been fitted with the same cybernetic mind-altering implants as Astronema.

He hadn't been under a spell at all.

Justin had lied to him.

He had never given Justin any kind of a bio-scan, because the captive Psycho Ranger had insisted that only the forcefield was shielding him from the mind-control spell.

By failing to lower the forcefield and subject Justin to a thorough physical examination, he had missed the chance to detect any cybernetic implants beneath the epidermis and so disprove Justin's story.

"Billy! Billy!"

The calling of his name seemed to come from a long way off, penetrating dimly to his perception.

Only when Delphine actually physically seized his shoulders was he able to actually focus on what she was saying.

"Aurico is dying! We need your power as well to help us heal him!"

She all but hauled him over to where the Red Ranger lay, the other Rangers already gathered around their fallen teammate. As if in a dream Billy joined hands with them and concentrated on directing the Great Power into Aurico, using it to heal him just as he'd helped heal Zordon all of those years ago.

A few moments later Aurico began to move, slowly sitting up. The other Rangers cheered, Delphine actually leaning down to embrace him.

"Billy?' Justin asked, moving to the other Blue Ranger's side.

He almost snapped at him, almost screamed at the young android, catching himself at the last second. This wasn't Justin's fault, not this Justin's. Not any Justin's, really. Billy knew whose fault this tragedy was.

"What is it, Justin?" he asked, his voice free of hostility. Free of any life at all, actually.

"When I was fighting the Green Psycho Ranger I managed to hit him until his morph dropped."

"And you saw he had cranial cybernetic implants before you killed him?" Billly prompted listlessly, already knowing the answer.

"No! I mean, yeah, he had implants on his face. I didn't kill him, though. Like you told us it would be, it was _Adam_! So I just crushed his morpher with my hammer."

"Wait, you what?" Billy asked, his attention fully on Justin now.

"I crushed his morpher. And most of his wrist," Justin admitted, sounding embarrassed. "He passed out and then I came here to help like you said we should after we beat our Psycho Ranger."

"Go get him and bring him to me," Billy ordered. With a nod Justin transformed into a pillar of light and shot upward.

Looking over the remaining Rangers, Billy realized one was missing: Cassie. He called her on his comm and received no response. His eyes dropped to the remains of the Phantom Ranger as he felt the loss of yet another two Rangers.

The few who remained here, Delphine, Aurico, T.J. had gathered before him, as if they were expecting him to tell them what to do.

Fine, then.

"The Psycho Rangers are gone. Help beat back the Quantrons," he told them. Without a word of dissent, they commed to find out where they were most needed and teleported away, right before Justin teleported back.

And in his arms was an unconscious Adam Park, his visage marred by the same cybernetic implants Tommy had and his right wrist a shattered, blood-soaked mess.

There had never been any spell controlling the Psycho Rangers, only cybernetic implants. Why they hadn't been visible on Justin's face was a good question, but ultimately irrelevant.

"Come on, help me get him to a medical center," Billy ordered.

Although the attack on Tegalak had been underway for only a few hours, the planetary medical facilities were already full of wounded soldiers. Billy therefore teleported Adam to the nearest shipboard infirmary. A pang of guilt struck him that he was occupying himself here rather than helping fight off the invasion, and he was quick to tell Justin to join in the fighting. He stayed, however.

It was actually possible Adam could be saved, really saved, if he didn't die of shock or blood loss. Billy could not let that opportunity pass by, especially not now.

While the Healer stabilized the Psycho Ranger medically, keeping him sedated according to the warning she'd been given, Billy had the technology he would need teleported to him from his lab on Aquitar. He also arranged for the Phantom Ranger's remains to be sent back to Eltar.

Lastly he tapped into the military network feed to get an update on the current situation from the surface forces and the fleet. The Blue and Gold Psycho Rangers had reportedly returned to the _Envenomed Blade,_ along with the Red and Pink ones, though he knew personally that the Red Ranger was no longer alive. The flagship had then immediately retreated back into UAE territory while the attacking fleet had ceased its advance.

On Tegalak, the Quantron force were being annihilated by the newly Great Power-empowered Light Rangers. Reinforcements were already being sent in from nearby UAE ships.

There was also a message direct to the Rangers from an Eltarian private named Sedler. He had used his anti-fighter cannon to kill the Pink Psycho Ranger and apparently to cut Cassie half in an incident of friendly fire.

So Kat had died too. Only Justin and Fred had survived the trap.

Shaking the thought away for now, Billy immediately sent the order to have Cassie's remains teleported to this ship, to the same cargo bay his equipment had been sent to.

A quick examination of the damage done to her revealed that while Cassie had gone offline because of the destruction of her internal generator, her memory banks remained fully intact. There was no reason her body couldn't be repaired and her mind brought back online!

Billy teleported Cassie inert form back to his Aquitian lab before returning to the medical bay.

"He will recover," Healer Telara told him first of all, "but his right wrist was completely crushed. I don't know if he'll ever be able to use his right hand again."

"I need to see him," Billy cut in.

"He's resting now, and he was sedated as you ordered," Telara countered, her voice a bit affronted.

"I don't need to speak with him; I just need to examine his cybernetic implants."

"The patient is resting," Telara reiterated firmly.

"This is vital to the war effort," Billy told her, pushing past her. "As overseer of the Light Rangers, I am overriding your authority under Aquitian Legal Code Section 83, paren 2."

The Healer left in a huff while Billy knelt down next at the Green Psycho Ranger's bedside and went to work. Twenty minutes later he had finished and had a thorough working understanding of the mechanical operation of the implants, even if he couldn't say exactly how they affected the recipient's mental processes.

He finished by deactivating the implants, entering the order that the patient be put under guard, be restrained for his own safety, and that he be given access to a Mind Healer as soon as one was available.

He logged back into his commfeed and found that the UAE ground reinforcements had made no difference; the Rangers and defending troops continued to obliterate them, and the UAE ships had fallen back into recently conquered territory, unwilling to continue to advance with unsecured hostile planets at their back.

He wasn't needed down on Tegalak; he could stay here and wait for Adam to wake up, try to get him through what he'd be feeling now that his implants had been deactivated.

Or he could do something about the remaining Psycho Rangers.

The plan came together in his mind all at once. The Phantom Ranger's cloaked ship on Tegalak, the two remaining Psycho Rangers presumably even now returning to the Dark Fortress, his understanding of the implants, the materials he had available here and in his lab, the electronic map of the Dark Fortress the Phantom Ranger had so painstakingly compiled . . . and how the remaining Rangers would undoubtedly be demorphed when they went to sleep tonight.

He could do this, Billy told himself, his heart pounding. He could potentially eliminate the last of the Psycho Rangers and bring them both back to the side of good! It would have to be done now, though, tonight; even with the Phantom Ranger gone, it was all too likely Justin would soon upgrade the Dark Fortress' security systems to protect against invisible intruders. Then, too, there was only a vanishingly brief time window of time in which there would both be only two Psycho Rangers and during which he could be relatively certain of their location.

It would be an exceedingly risky and even reckless venture, Billy had to acknowledge, unsanctioned by anyone but himself. It could even be seen as a violation of the Ranger code! Power Rangers were expected to always defend, never to attack.

Yet was this really an attack? Zordon, ultimate arbiter of the Ranger way, had never objected when they had sought to liberate a captured Ranger, and that's what Justin was! And Fred had been a potential Ranger, so the same considerations should apply to him too.

For all of his wisdom, all of his vast knowledge, all of his logic and preplanning, Billy's decision to act was made at once and almost without conscious thought. He would do this. He HAD to do this.

Rising from Adam's bedside, he started toward the door to the medbay, only for it to slide open before he reached it. The other Blue Ranger, still fully morphed, stepped into the room, the viewplate on his helmet turning from Billy to the pale figure lying motionless on the bed, and then back again.

"How is he?" Justin asked in almost a whisper.

Billy hadn't planned on having this conversation, especially now, when every second counted. Best to end it as quickly as possible.

"He's going to sleep for a few more hours. When he wakes up, though, he'll-," unexpectedly Billy had to stop and clear his throat. "He'll be Adam again," he finished.

"Really? You turned him back?!"

The pride and hope in that young voice hit Billy like a punch to the gut. Justin had no business acting like that toward him, not when Billy had been so easily fooled, not when his gullible stupidity had cost Tommy's life!

He managed a nod and started moving toward the door again.

"You don't have to leave," Justin told him. "The Quantrons are pretty much crushed; the others are mopping up the last of them now, that's why Aurico let me come up here."

He paused for a few seconds, looking over at the sleeping figure again. "I should go, though. Adam won't want to see me here, not after what I did to him."

"What you did to him saved his life," Billy couldn't help pointing out as he reached Justin, maneuvering around him to get at the door.

The reply was voiced so softly he almost didn't hear it. Even then he could have ignored it, could have simply kept going. Except he'd spent years trying to fulfill the role of mentor to this team and this wasn't something he could ignore.

"Justin, why do you think he'd hate you for saving his life?" Billy questioned, turning and starting straight at the android. The helmet turned to one side, and Billy felt the temptation to leave, and ignored it.

"Because now he has to live with what he did when he was a Psycho Ranger," Justin replied. "How can you do that? How do you live knowing the terrible things you've done, the things you're capable of?"

The note of raw anguish, of self-loathing in his tone warned Billy that they were no longer only talking about Adam. Consequently, he chose his answering words with care.

"Adam is going to feel horribly guilty over what he's done since he became a Psycho Ranger. Eventually, though, he'll come to realize the things he did weren't his fault, no more than it'd be your fault if someone reprogramed you. That's what these implants did! They changed him, and he couldn't help that. It doesn't make him a bad person. And what Justin's done doesn't make him or you a bad person either."

It was surprisingly difficult saying that, despite knowing in his head that it was the truth.

The Blue Ranger abruptly removed his helmet, shrinking down to about five foot five. "How can you say that after how he lied to you? After what he did to Cestria?!"

"I never met him while he was a Turbo Ranger," Billy admitted, "but I got to know Justin Stewart through you. That's how I know this isn't his fault, that he'd never do what he has of his own free will. Because YOU wouldn't!"

He placed a hand on the small android's shoulder as Justin started up at him and finally gave a tight nod.

Billy began to leave, the door opening before him. He was less than half a foot from the corridor when Justin asked, "Where are you going now?"

He should have been ready for the predictable question, should have had a smooth, plausible lie just waiting for him to give voice to it. And if he'd carefully planned out this mission in advance, he would have.

For once, though, he was acting more on snap judgment than on rational thought and so he froze in the doorway as his normally agile mind scrambled frantically for a suitable falsehood.

Say he was going to going to join the other Rangers in battle? No, Justin had said they were almost finished with the fight. Say he was going back to Aquitar to begin repairing Cassie? No, then Justin would ask to come along. Say he was going for a holo-conference with the admirals? No, then Justin would likely wait outside the door. Say he was going back to see his wife? Justin would respect that, but then he'd have to teleport back to Aquitar and the Phantom Ranger's ship was here.

In the end his uncharacteristic reaction and delay in responding cost him any chance he might have had to deceive his teammate. He had spent the past few years as mentor to his team, getting to know them, but they'd spent the same amount of time getting to know _him_. And when he heard Justin's voice again it was laced with discomfort and wariness.

"Billy? What are you doing? What's wrong?"

He'd almost made it out, Billy told himself as he again turned to face his teammate. Yet he couldn't let this stop him; he knew what he had to do.

"I have a plan to free the last two Psycho Rangers," he told his fellow Blue Ranger bluntly, "but I need to go now."

"What, by yourself?! No, that's crazy, you've got to take us with you!"

"Why, so I can get the rest of you killed too?" Billy demanded sarcastically before he could stop himself. He took a deep breath and went on. "Justin it's a one-person job; there's no reason to risk any more. Once Cassie is back online there will be five Light Rangers again, all possessing the Great Power! You'll be able to stand up to the new Psychos if I fail."

"No, we won't, not without you!" Justin insisted, his internal hydraulics producing the facsimile of tears on his face. He grabbed his mentor and Billy involuntarily winced as the crushing vise encased in a glove closed around his forearm. Like humans, Justin's didn't always know his own strength when he got emotional; it was a good thing Billy was still morphed, or his wrist probably would have looked like Adam's.

"There need to be six Rangers! You know that better than I do, you're the longest serving Ranger there is!"

Billy had to admit Earth's Ranger teams had functioned better in the past with six members rather than with five, but that wasn't enough to sway him.

"I have to do this, Justin. I started it when I created the Turbo Turbine, and now I'm going to end it."

"How? How can you do this by yourself?" Justin demanded.

"I know how to deactivate the cybernetic implants now. I'm going to take Phantom's ship to the Dark Fortress and when they fall asleep, I'm going to teleport into their bedrooms and turn their neural nets off."

Justin hesitated, and Billy would have taken the opportunity to break away if it wouldn't have meant leaving his arm behind. He'd told himself he couldn't let Justin stop him, but he hadn't anticipated the android Ranger actually physically restraining him.

"That's not a one person job," Justin surprisingly countered. "It's a two person job, one for each bedroom. What happens if the first Psycho Ranger hears you coming and wakes up? What if he goes hysterical when you deactivate his implants? The other one will be morphed before you can blink!"

"That's why you have to take me with you."

"What?" Billy asked incredulously.

"I can take care of one Psycho Ranger while you get the other one."

"Justin, no! You don't need to do this."

"Neither do you! You said it wasn't my fault, what Justin's done. What the UAE did with the Turbo Turbine isn't your fault! If you're going after them, then I'm going with you! And there isn't time to argue."

Damn it, he was right about that! The others would be back soon, and he knew they'd never let him take this risk, no matter who necessary it was. For the second time in ten minutes, Billy Cranston made a rash snap-judgment.

"Then let me go and come on," Billy told Justin curtly. Part of him couldn't believe he was doing this, since he had no desire to risk anyone's life but his own on this plan. Maybe he should abandon the idea altogether.

No. NO! If this worked, who knows how many lives he would be saving? He couldn't pass up the chance to do so much good, no matter what the cost.

Not even for Justin.

The duo hurried to the ship's cargo bay, Billy responding to Justin's questions about the cybernetic implants as they went. In the process the two come up with a back-up plan, one Billy was able to assemble for himself in only a few moments with additional teleported material. Given Justin's electronic composition he would unfortunately need to forego having one himself, but that couldn't be helped.

"Um, Billy, if you want to record a message for Cestria," Justin began awkwardly, "there's no one in the neighboring cargo bay."

It was a thoughtful reminder, and there was no doubt Billy wanted to leave something for his wife. Actually Justin's consideration could potentially solve more than one problem. He moved eagerly toward the door, but the other Blue Ranger unexpectedly interposed himself between the Rangers mentor and the exit.

"Just leave your Morpher here so I know you won't try to teleport to Phantom's ship without me," he put in, arms crossed over his chest.

Cursing internally, Billy reluctantly took off his morpher and handed it over.

It took him a few moments to compose himself enough to leave a suitable message. The thought of what it would do to her if he didn't come back was nearly enough to undo his resolve to go. In the end, though, he managed to leave a message which he hoped would help her to understand why he had to do this.

When he got back Justin returned his morpher and it immediately beeped, Delphine asking him where he was. He told them to meet him in this ship's medical bay, where Adam was. That wouldn't keep them occupied for long, but long enough. Soon after Billy sent his message to his wife she'd contact the other Rangers, and they'd know what he and Justin had done.

By then it would be too late to stop them.

Billy removed his helmet, and for a second the two Blue Rangers simply stared at each other, each seeing his determination and resolve mirrored in the other's fact. Then they teleported down directly into Phantom Ranger's ship, which cloaked, lifted off and sent a transmission to Aquitar.

For all of his intelligence and observational acumen, Billy never noticed the small, torn scrap of synth-skin lying near the pile of his equipment.

Synth skin was the artificial material which covered the Robot Rangers' internal workings, and it was only removed in order to access their electronic components.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Justin leaned back in his chair in the wardroom, removing his helmet and placing it on the table in order to massage his temples. He had a bitch of a headache building up, and it was all the fault of the remaining Light Rangers.

The Great Power! Who would have thought they'd go after that?

HE should have, the teenage Psycho Ranger chided himself reprovingly. He knew the Rangers, knew their recklessness both from having been on one of their teams and from having opposed one for the past few years. He should have anticipated that they'd try for a longshot like the Great Power after their losses at Morrigan; it was literally their only hope. And if there was anything Rangers specialized in, it was capitalizing on their last hope, their final chance.

If he had a standard Psycho Ranger neural net Justin would have been too busy raging over his defeat, and the defeat of the Psycho Rangers as a whole, to draw any further conclusions.

As it was he was able to set aside his anger and hate and appreciate, with a kind of chilly detachment, the soundness and cleverness of the plan which had led to their defeat. Not facing them all at once and openly, as was the usual brainless Ranger way, but luring the Psychos off one at a time, surprising each one in isolation with the new power the Light Ranger he'd come to prey upon now possessed. Then, when he and Fred had refused to fall for their trick, descending en masse upon the two of them and Tommy.

What had happened next was the one bright spot, the single redeeming feature of this dark day. When he'd fed Billy the lie about Tommy being the linchpin of the spell keeping them all "on the bad guys' side", it had been in the hopes that their future targeting of the Red Psycho Ranger would give he and Fred a chance to strike, to fatally stab their leader from behind while the enemy was hitting him ineffectually from the front.

Instead the Light Rangers had actually succeeded in _killing_ Tommy! Unfortunately, they'd killed most of the other Psycho Rangers along with him! And not only that, but they'd destroyed Adam and Tanya's morphers, robbing the UAE of the ability to fully replace their losses! The delicate process of combining powerful dark magic with advanced Morphin technology was of necessity long and complex, not something which could be rushed. For at least the next several months the Psycho Rangers would be down to four, and that was assuming they could find suitable recipients for Tommy's Morpher and Kat's morphers.

All of which was undoubtedly why Dark Specter had communicated through Astronema that he wanted to see Justin at once. Teleporting back would have meant giving up an ace in the hole he might well need, however, and so he had pled damaged equipment, citing the use of a new Ranger weapon which might have infected he and the Gold Ranger with energy particles which would render long-range teleporting dangerous.

Astronema had been happy enough to accept his lie, knowing the delay would only increase the Emperor of Evil's no doubt already considerable anger.

Before that frustrating conversation Justin had talked with Fred about what they had to be ready for once they arrived at the Dark Fortress. Of course that was only after he'd gotten done arguing with Fred about the decision to retreat. Even the Gold Psycho Ranger would have been eventually overwhelmed if they'd stayed, and he'd finally been able to persuade his proud friend of that.

Had they stayed, even Fred would have fallen. And before Fred fell . . . _he_ would have! That fact alone was enough to break through Justin's icy control, and he slammed his gloved fists down onto the metal table in sudden fury, his helmet jumping from the force of his blows.

Billy hadn't been an active Ranger since leaving Earth! Even with the Great Power, he shouldn't have been any match for Justin!

Yet the truth was he had been. He'd succeeding in keeping the Blue Psycho Ranger on the defensive for most of their fight, had even drawn blood! When was the last time he had shed blood in a fight? His own, at least? He couldn't even remember!

It was worrying, even more so than his failure to anticipate the Light Rangers' move for the Great Power or their oh so clever trap.

It made him think he might be slipping.

He couldn't afford that, not now! He had to be at his absolute best, both for his meeting with Dark Specter and in the difficult days to come.

Justin's quiet contemplation (or brooding) was interrupted by the entrance into the wardroom of the Gold Psycho Ranger. Fred had gone to his room to shower and, now remorphed, he paused momentarily in the doorway, the faceless front of his helmet angled down towards Justin's uncovered face.

Then he stalked gracefully forward and slide into the chair opposite the Blue Psycho Ranger.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he offered.

Justin sighed. "Just that we'd better not slip up when we meet with Dark Specter. He's going to be furious about this."

"Are you scared?"

Justin's temper almost flared up again, though there had been no taunt in Fred's tone, just neutral inquiry.

"Yes, I am. Are you?" Justin shot back sarcastically.

He expected a flippant negative, an airy expression of disregard. Even with the Light Rangers having won the Great Power, Fred was still the single strongest Ranger in the galaxy and keenly aware of that fact.

What Justin didn't expect was for Fred to reach up and remove his own helmet, setting it down on the table next to Justin's. The eyes of the two teens met, and Fred replied simply, "Yes."

"I don't think you're in any danger," Justin told him honestly. "You've barely begun as a Psycho Ranger and you've already done great; he'd be a fool to replace you."

"He'd be a fool to replace you too!" Fred pointed out.

"Maybe, but he's going to want someone to blame for this."

"Then let him blame Tommy!" Fred suggested. "Anyway, what do you mean, 'maybe'?"

Justin was silent, knowing better than to willingly reveal vulnerability, but something about Fred's steady gaze drew the words out of him.

"I didn't see this coming, Fred. I didn't realize the Rangers would go after the Great Power, and I didn't realize their trap until it had already mostly closed us on us. Hell, I couldn't even beat Billy in battle!"

"First, not even you can think of everything the enemy might do in advance. And you caught onto their trap in time to save me from falling into it. Plus, remember, you played Billy for a damn fool the whole time he held you captive, and you even managed to get away on your own!"

"Okay, so you weren't able to put Billy away today," Fred conceded. "How many times have you fought him before?"

"None. He was gone by the time I became a Ranger, so we never sparred, and today was the first time he ever came onto the battlefield."

"How many times do you think he's seen you fight? From watching the Light Rangers' battles, hell, from watching your android duplicate in action! Aren't you always saying knowledge is power?"

"It is!" Justin insisted.

"Exactly. Billy had a lot knowledge of how you fight and you had none about how he fights. So he scored today. This isn't the end of the game, though, and I know who my money is on."

In spite of himself, Justin felt a smile of gratitude tugging at his lips.

"How did I ever get along on this team without you?" he asked facetiously.

"Luck!" Fred answered, with such speed and emphasis that Justin burst out laughing.

"Feeling better now?" the Gold Psycho Ranger asked with a knowing grin. "A little more ready to face Dark Specter and Astronema?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Because remember: with you as the brains and me as the brawn, the two of us are fucking unstoppable!"

ΩΩΩΩΩ

He looked so peaceful asleep. Almost innocent.

Looking down at him like this, it was hard keep in mind how much death and destruction Adam Park had dealt out.

Delphine had to remember that none of it had been by choice. This human, Billy's old friend and teammate, was a victim here, as much as anyone else who'd been targeted by the United Alliance of Evil.

Once it became known that the Green Psycho Ranger was in custody, there would be a call for swift, brutal "justice", but Delphine was confident wiser minds would prevail. She herself would join her voice in protest of any harsh penalty, if necessary.

Quite apart from the moral considerations Delphine used to guide her entire life, there was a very strong practical reason to spare the dark-haired human: Like Billy, he had won the Great Power through his valor. If they could reignite the sparks of that energy within him, he could actually become a Light Ranger himself! They were certainly in need of more teammates, she thought with a sharp stab of sorrow.

The news that Cassie could be repaired and reactivated had come as a great relief; she had already lost more friends than she'd thought her heart could bear in the last few weeks.

A wave of weakness swept over Delphine and she leaned against T.J.'s solid, reassuring form. She and Aurico would need to rehydrate very soon, but she'd wanted to meet Billy here first. Where were he and Justin?

As she wondered about their absence Delphine's comm sounded, with a call from Aquitar.

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	15. Chapter 15

In his private quarters Admiral Telan surveyed the holographic representation of the fleet disposition. Once more he mentally ran through the projected shipyard production numbers for the Galactic League of Light, subtracting the output from those facilities located in the fourth of the League territory which had fallen to the UAE during this most recent offensive. Then he totaled up all of the figures to come up with the final number of new ships which would be commissioned during the next year. This was the fourth time he had worked everything out in his head, always accounting for a range of possible variations, and though the ultimate figure arrived at differed, his conclusion remained the same.

It wasn't going to be enough.

They'd lost too many ships and crews, too many shipyards, while the United Alliance of Evil's productions centers remained untouched. Add in the manufacturing capability of that tinpot despot Gasket's little kingdom and the eventual outcome was bleakly and inevitably clear.

When his comm sounded, the Admiral's first reaction was fear that the attack had been renewed. Instead Vice-Admiral Takerus, his second in command, reported to him in brief, clipped sentences what the Rangers' mentor had done.

The news added an extra heartache to his contemplation of the coming destruction of all he held dear. Over the years he had grown to respect Billy Cranston a great deal. The human had done much for them during the course of the war, helping to keep the Light Rangers alive against the Psycho Rangers, even while his own home planet languished under the bootheel of the Alliance. It was tragic to see Billy's life thrown away on the hopeless gamble he had embarked upon, and Telan couldn't help wondering if the Rangers' leader had reached same conclusion as he had regarding the future. The boy was intelligent and insightful enough that Telan wouldn't put such perceptiveness past him. Perhaps the knowledge had been too much for him, leading him to take on this mad mission to try to change things.

Whatever the reason, nothing could be done to alter the human's course. He had taken the Phantom Ranger's ship and even if he weren't already behind enemy lines, which he surely was, there was simply no way to detect the cloaked vessel.

With the hope that his ally would find some peace in death, Admiral Telan turned his attention to locating possible refuge worlds and facilitating the logistics of as many evacuations on a planetary scale as was possible.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The speed of the Phantom Ranger's ship was such that their arrival at the Dark Fortress was, objectively, among the shorter interstellar trips Billy had taken.

Subjectively it seemed to him to be by far the longest.

He couldn't help questioning his decision, to risk his and Justin's lives on such a reckless, spur of the moment plan. It wasn't like him, not at all! He was logical, methodical, a chess player rather than a poker player. Yet here he was, risking all he had on the outcome of a single hand.

That the potential reward was worth the risk was the only aspect of the present situation about which he had no doubts whatsoever. If they could return the original Justin Stewart and Fred Kelman to the side of the Light, as they had done for Adam, then the benefits to the GLL would be truly immense. The complete destruction of the Psycho Rangers, access to all of the technical and strategic data Justin doubtless possessed, and a morale boost which would be sorely needed in the wake of so much loss.

Not to mention the rescue of two people he was confident would rather die than continue to serve evil, if only they were in their right minds to voice their desire.

No, the goal was more than worthy; it was the method which was madness. There was so much which could go wrong! What if the two Psycho Rangers left didn't remain at the Dark Fortress to rest? What if they were immediately sent elsewhere? What if Justin was able to devise a way to pierce the cloaking shield en route and put it into effect when he arrived? What if they simply decided to keep the Dark Fortress' forcefield up as a matter of security to prevent any cloaked incursions?

These and a thousand other doubt assailed Billy as their ship traversed the void of space. He gave voice to none of them, wishing to undermine neither his own shaky confidence nor that of his passenger.

Justin was equally silent, a marked contrast from the cheerful chatter Billy had come to appreciate over the years, whether they were working on new piece of technology or just spending time together.

Again Billy cursed himself for allowing Justin to be dragged into this. He should have moved more quickly, should have been able to think up a more convincing argument to persuade the other Blue Ranger to remain behind. With the loss of the storage unit which had kept copies of the psyches of the Robot Light Rangers, Justin was taking every bit as big a risk as he was on this mission.

More than once Billy seriously considered turning the ship around, returning to face the angry, hurt recriminations of his team and his wife. It wasn't too late; he could still go home.

Except he would do so knowing that he was sacrificing their best and perhaps only opportunity to wipe out the Psycho Rangers. No matter how slim the chance of success might be, he couldn't bring himself to turn away from this mission. Not after years of intra-galactic war, not after millions of deaths, not after the conquest of Earth, and not after losing six Rangers.

He had to go through with this, come what may.

He could only hope Cestria would understand that. He thought she would. She'd been a Ranger.

Over a year and a half ago Billy had installed a few experimental upgrades on the drive of this ship, to help the Phantom Ranger get where he needed to be more quickly. Because of that they actually arrived at the Dark Fortress well before the _Envenomed Blade_ did, even with the cruiser's considerable headstart.

Though he'd seen countless video feeds of the Dark Fortress, until now Billy had never looked upon the structure with his own eyes. Here was the enemy capital, rotating in space before him.

As well as the enemy ruler.

Dark Specter was truly massive and Billy had to consciously keep himself from flinching at the sight. His hands on the controls slickened with sweat, even though he knew there was nothing to worry about. The Phantom Ranger had taken up position and teleported in under the Emperor of Evil's nose any number of times. Whatever terrible powers he possessed apparently didn't give him the ability to pierce the cloaking shield.

At least, not without conscious effort. If the Blue Psycho Ranger were to tell him of the possibility of a cloaked ship, though, would he then be able to detect it? If he were actively trying to?

With that disquieting thought in mind Billy maneuvered to put the space station between them and UAE's leader, taking care also to avoid the two UAE cruisers circling the station.

"We're here," Justin said, the first words he had spoken since they broke orbit.

"Yes, we are," Billy breathed, sighing in the sudden release of tension. "Now we wait."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

"Sirs, we have arrived at the Dark Fortress," one of the Quantrons on the bridge informed the Psycho Rangers over the comm.

A feeling of nervous nausea abruptly afflicted the brown-haired seventeen year-old. He and Fred had spent the past few hours in the wardroom devising and going over various contingency plans for the meeting with Dark Specter. They were as ready and prepared as they could reasonably expect to be. Yet knowing that it was about to happen still put the sour taste of fear in Justin's mouth.

The loss of Tommy would have led to a debriefing encounter of this nature, but the death of a single Psycho Ranger, even the leader, would have been a far less serious situation than losing four of his teammates and being driven from the field by the surviving Light Rangers. In spite of the unquestioned progress they'd made in defeating the Galactic League of Light, the advance which had been intended go all the way to Aquitar had still been checked and stalled well short of that. Dark Specter would not be pleased.

"Ready?" the Gold Psycho Ranger asked. Justin answered with a firm nod, and together they teleported into the Dark Fortress' command center.

The duo reappeared under the glowing red gaze of Dark Specter, who was peering into the chamber through the transparent window set in the outer wall. Nor were they alone in the room; Princess Astronema stood by the door, smirking confidently and flanked by a pair of Quantrons. Ignoring her Justin turned to face absolute ruler of the United Alliance of Evil.

"Explain your failure, Blue Psycho Ranger," the black-rock being hissed.

"We conquered world after world in the vanguard of your forces before the Light Rangers finally deigned to face us," Justin began, pleased by the steadiness of his voice. "Our leader let his Rangers get lured away one by one, but the Gold Psycho Ranger and I stayed with him. The three of us fought four of the Light Rangers and we found they'd grown much more powerful than before. Their uniforms were like those of the Earth Rangers who won the Great Power and their mentor Billy was among them. He killed Tommy while the Gold Psycho Ranger killed the Phantom Ranger. Then the remaining three Light Rangers teleported in and we fell back, on my initiative. Pink and Red Psycho's morphers and corpses came with us, but not Green or Yellow's. Then we returned to you, my Lord."

"You ran away, and let all of the other Psycho Rangers die," Astronema put in sneeringly.

Justin didn't bother responding to her. There was nothing to be gained by arguing against her gibes.

Failing to get a rise out of him, the Princess of Evil instead turned to the viewport. "After being captured and taking days to escape, the Blue Psycho Ranger participated in a disastrous defeat which cost the lives of virtually all of his fellow Rangers before he fled! And this was after they had failed to destroy the Light Rangers for years!" she finished with a snarl.

Fred shifted at his side, and Justin gave a minute shake of his helmet. Much as he longed to strike out at Astronema himself, that wouldn't be advantageous, not right now.

"You can't let this incompetent fool continue in his role! Give me the Psycho Morphers and I'll pick a team that will finish the Light Rangers! I won't fail you, Dark Specter; I never have."

She finished her impassioned plea and Dark Specter scrutinized them thoughtfully. Justin held his breath as he waited for UAE's leader to respond.

He turned first to regard the Gold Psycho Ranger.

"You will continue in your role," he pronounced, and Justin grinned within his helmet at the frustrated look on Astronema's face.

Then Dark Specter turned to him.

"You have served me well," he began, "but your failures cannot be wholly excused. You will surrender your Morpher and the other unattached Morphers to Astronema, and I will consider your new role."

As he stood there, condemned by Dark Specter, master of the United Alliance of Evil and the most powerful being in the galaxy, Justin's overriding emotion was not fear or shame, but indignant fury! After everything he'd done to secure victory for the United Alliance of Evil, to be cast aside like this at Astronema's urging was more than merely unjust; it was insane!

Without him they would have lost Earth! Without him they never would have had Fred to serve at the Gold Psycho Warrior! Without him they wouldn't have been able to bring Prince Gasket and his armada into the UAE fold and wouldn't have just conquered roughly a fourth of the GLL! He should have been replacing Astronema as Dark Specter's right hand, not being demoted!

Switching his helmet over to radio communication Justin gave a brief order, then switched off his comm.

"My lord," he said respectfully, "I will NOT obey! Omega!"

Fred reacted to the code word at once, speeding over to the console Justin had told him of while they were on the ship and activating the Dark Fortress' force-field.

"Restrain her!" the Blue Psycho Ranger shouted at the Quantrons. The one on her left immediately complied, grabbing her by the arm. After a second's delay the one on her right did likewise. Justin finished by summoning his Psycho Axe and brandishing it in Astronema's direction.

"You dare to defy ME?" Dark Specter roared, his entire form suddenly blazing with pure, crackling power. "I have absorbed the life force of Zordon! I could raze an entire planet if I wished! Do you truly think that this energy field can protect you from my wrath, you foolish traitor?"

"No, I know it can't," Justin admitted calmly. "I just need it to protect me from the explosion."

Confusion gave way to realization in the Emperor of Evil's eyes a split-second before the _Envenomed Blade_, its Quantron crew obeying Justin's broadcast order, drove itself down into Dark Specter's chest.

The resultant detonation did indeed take down the forcefield and shook the entire Fortress, but the structural integrity of the space station held.

Wreckage, debris and remains were propelled in all directions and a rocklike chunk of the formerly mightiest being in the galaxy flew on a perfect arc to impact with the cloaked vessel on the far side of the Dark Fortress.

This superheated piece of Dark Specter struck and slashed open the surface of the Phantom Ranger's ship, sending it spinning and bringing down the cloaking field.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Flung from his chair and into the nearest bulkhead, Billy struggled and failed to regain his footing and bearings. What on Earth had just happened?! In a mere instant they'd somehow gone from safely hidden to exposed and out of control!

The hiss of escaping air pierced through his fog of disorientation, warning Billy that the ship's environment had been compromised and he quickly moved to seal off his helmet.

Meanwhile Justin had succeeded in dragging himself to the console, his gloved fingers sinking slightly into the metal of the floor as he fought against the centrifugal force being generated by the violent motion.

"The cloaking shield is down!" he shouted to Billy. "Two of the cruisers are coming around to target us!"

Billy's mind spun faster than the vessel as he fought to come up with a way to salvage his wild, spur of the moment plan and their lives.

Even as their time ran inexorably out.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Justin took only a moment to appreciate the sight of Dark Specter's explosive demise, of the fall of a being no one thought could ever be defeated. Then he raised his Psycho Axe, charged forward, and brought it down-not on Astronema, but on the Quantron to her right.

Releasing Astronema it dodged with inhuman speed, the stylized blade of the weapon missing its head and coming down on the shoulder. With a curse Darkonda resumed his natural form as Justin wrenched his axe free from the alien mercenary's organic armor.

Fred appeared at Justin's side as Astronema took her spear-scepter in her right hand and blasted apart the real Quantron.

"I'll take Darkonda," Fred asserted, and Justin didn't have time to answer before the Gold Psycho Ranger sped toward the Mephistian and staff clashed with sword.

In the next instant, a blast of energy took Justin in the chest, knocking him backward.

Rolling to the side he dodged her next shot and whipped his Psycho Axe through the air at her, slicing off the Princess of Evil's left hand at the forearm.

Immediately hard pressed by his black and gold clad assailant, Darkonda's left hand went to the chain on his shoulder, whipping it toward his foe. The end of the metal links wrapped itself around the staff and channeled the electricity through it. The Psycho Ranger sunk to his knees and Darkonda grinned.

Kill this one, finish off whoever won the fight between Astronema and the irritating Blue Psycho Ranger, and the UAE's throne would be his for the taking! He thrust his sword forward, visions of absolute power and glory already dancing in his mind, but the blade was knocked aside by sudden a twirl of the staff!

Then the Gold Psycho Ranger seized his chain with one gloved hand and snarled, "My turn!".

The Mephistian felt his muscles suddenly lock up as electricity flowed back up the chain and into his hand. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, and the pain he was experiencing was swiftly ascending into agony. A terrible burning stench filled the air and to his horror Darkonda realized the smell was coming from _him_, from the electrical burns he was experiencing as he literally cooked inside of his organic armor! He tried again and again to release the chain, and failed. He couldn't strike with his sword, couldn't teleport, couldn't do anything except stare in burning hatred at his killer until his eyes burst forth from their sockets.

Only when he was certain the treacherous, scheming monster who had helped kidnap Justin was thoroughly dead did Fred at last release the chain and let the charred corpse collapse to the floor plating. Glancing over he saw the fight between Justin and Astronema already finished, the Princess of Evil's body lying slumped at the Blue Psycho Ranger's feet, her neck twisted at an unnatural angle.

"You know I wanted to kill him," Justin complained, and Fred grinned beneath his helmet.

"I know, but do you really think you could have made him suffer like this?" he challenged, gesturing towards the still-smoking heap of alien remains.

Justin seemed set to argue the point, but instead what he said was, "Fred . . . we did it!"

And they had! This had been the worst of all of the possibilities they'd discussed, yet they had emerged triumphant! They'd _won_, carrying out their lightning coup and taking out Astronema, Darkonda and Dark Specter himself in a matter of moments! Fred would be the leader of the new Psycho Rangers, and Justin would head the United Alliance of Evil!

It was a literally historic victory, one worthy of days of celebration. Yet the two remaining Psycho Rangers' time of joyous, triumphant elation was almost instantly interrupted by a comm transmission to the station from the Quantron captain of the _Unstoppable_.

"Dark Fortress, we have detected and destroyed a previously cloaked enemy ship in the wake of the explosion."

They had to mean the Phantom Ranger's ship, Justin realized. The Phantom Ranger had died with the other Psychos, but his ship had remained, and the Rangers must have taken it here. Why, though? What were they hoping to accomplish?

"Scan the wreckage thoroughly for a Morphin energy signature!" Justin told the captain.

If the Rangers had made it off the ship before it was destroyed, then he and Fred were in danger of being struck down at the very moment of their triumph!

He commed the captains of both cruisers, telling them teleport all troops to the Dark Fortress and then broadcasting orders to every Quantron in the station, directing the new arrivals to fan out and search for intruders.

"Report at once if you sight any intruders!" Justin finished vehemently.

"And what do we do?" Fred asked tersely as Justin straightened.

"First we stay here and protect the command center," the seventeen year-old began. "If our Quantrons confirm that the Rangers are here, then we retreat." He raised his voice to cut off Fred's inevitable protest. "We're not going to be idiots and risk everything in a fight where the odds are against us, not when we can fall back instead!"

"So we run again?" the Gold Psycho Ranger growled, his posture making Justin think of a chained tiger.

"We retreat," he repeated firmly. "Right after I order the _Unstoppable_ and _Hell's Fury_ to destroy the entire station."

"Wait, what?"

"I'd prefer to keep the Dark Fortress," Justin admitted, "but sacrificing it to wipe out the rest of the Light Rangers is a more than even trade."

His answer was a laugh and a powerful, left-handed clap on the shoulder. "You're gonna make a great Emperor of Evil, Justin," Fred observed admiringly.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The room they'd appeared in was empty, with a bed, a bureau, what looked like a closet door and three larger closed doors in the north, west, and south walls.

Billy let out a breath as he collected himself.

"Where are we?" he asked, already suspecting the answer.

"We're in Justin's bedroom," his Justin said. "They were about to destroy the ship! I had to do something and you already had these coordinates on the screen, so I teleported us here."

"You did the right thing; you saved both of our lives," Billy told him truthfully. Now it was a question of how much longer they would be able to keep those lives.

They were trapped in the Dark Fortress, without their ship or a teleporter. For a single lunatic moment, Billy thought that perhaps the two of them could hide in Justin's closet and still carry out the original plan. Then he shook off the idiocy of that idea and looked at the situation rationally. The presence of their ship had certainly been reported, and even if Dark Specter wasn't able to somehow actively detect them, it would be madness to hide and hope no one would find them. They needed to find a way to escape, and the needed to do it now.

Two immediate options presented themselves: the hangar bay and the command center. There were plenty of fighters in the former, but trying to get home in a fighter past the capital ships waiting outside, much less Dark Specter, would be suicide.

The command center held a teleporter and though it would likely be the most heavily guarded, it offered them their only real prospect for survival.

"We're going to the teleporter in the command room and getting off this station."

"We're giving up?" Justin cried.

"Justin, we don't have a choice. Neither the probe nor my pulse device is going to make it through the Psycho Ranger armor. We have to save ourselves."

Getting a tight, unhappy nod of acknowledgement, Billy called forth his Power Lance and again split it into two sais, the small weapons being far more suited to the close quarters of the space station than the full-sized lance. Then he proceeded Justin out into the living room and into the hall.

One of the few advantages they had was that they knew exactly where they were going. The Phantom Ranger's first assignment had been to make a complete and highly detailed map of the Dark Fortress. Billy had memorized it and Justin had needed only a glance to commit the layout to his own processor.

They were actually in a relatively good position, with a straight shot to the command room, Billy reassured himself. Perhaps they could sprint down there, strike before anyone realized what was happening, and be gone and safe.

That's when what looked like at least a squad of Quantrons turned the corner behind them.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

"We've got something!"

"What?" Fred demanded.

"The two Blue Rangers, they're in the corridor right outside my room!" Justin explained.

"None of the others?"

"No, not yet."

Why would the Light Ranger be separated? If they'd teleported out of the ship before it was destroyed, wouldn't they have all teleported to the same location? Time and safety considerations suggested the answer was yes.

Had they teleported the others onboard earlier, before the forcefield first went up? That was possible, but none of them had the Phantom Ranger's personal cloaking ability; their presence would inevitably be discovered, and sooner rather than later. Had Billy really thought to fight a battle to the finish in the middle of the Dark Fortress, in the heart of the UAE's territory and under the eyes of Dark Specter himself? Surely such a spectacularly stupid plan could not have sprung from the mind of a Blue Ranger!

Or did he have a different plan altogether?

Two Rangers found here, two Psycho Rangers left, and they'd teleported into the area where the Psycho Rangers' living quarters were . . . where they slept . . .

"Fred, I don't think the other Light Rangers are here! I think these two came to kill us in our sleep!"

"You're kidding me! But then I guess that is the only way they could beat us. I take it you're ready to go finish them now, then?"

"No!" Justin snapped. "This isn't a threat anymore; it's an opportunity! The first two of our new Psycho Rangers have delivered themselves right to us!"

ΩΩΩΩΩ

With the Great Power infusing them both, taking down the entire squad of Quantrons took little effort, but it did take time, and that was by far the more precious factor in their current predicament.

Billy was in the lead when they came within sight of the command door. He saw it slide open and beheld what looked to him like a black and gold fireball blazing down the corridor towards them.

He and Justin were both sent skidding back down the hall by the impact, each feeling like he'd been hit by a falling fighter. Scrambling to his feet as quickly as he could Billy saw the Gold Psycho Ranger, staff held in his right hand, blocking the way forward. Behind him stood his Blue partner, Psycho Axe at the ready.

Two on two, an ostensibly even fight which could go either way-except one of the two they were facing was the Gold Psycho Ranger.

They wouldn't be making it to those teleporter controls.

Billy knew this intellectually, knew it as well as he knew any scientific fact. Still, he raised his sais and assumed his battle stance, because what else could he do? There was no other option.

Or at least that's what he thought. His Light Ranger, his Justin Stewart, proved him wrong when the android whirled around and bolted back up the corridor the way they'd come, leaving Billy behind.

Pure shock paralyzed the Rangers' mentor as he struggled to comprehend what was going on. He would never have imagined that Justin would abandon him like this, not in a thousand years, especially when there was nowhere else to go!

"Get to the teleportation controls! I have a plan!" the Light Ranger called back over his shoulder as he sprinted out of sight.

Turning his attention back to his enemies, Billy saw the Blue Ranger vanish in a stream of light while his remaining enemy stalked confidently toward him.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Even as he left his leader behind, Justin wanted nothing more than to turn around and race back to Billy's side. That was exactly what he'd have to do, if this didn't work, if one of them didn't come after him. There was no way he could leave Billy to face both Psycho Rangers alone, but he could potentially do a lot more good by drawing one of them off.

When the Blue Psycho Ranger, the human he was taken from, teleported into the corridor a dozen feet in front of him, Justin felt surge of dismay. The Gold Psycho Ranger had been in front; he had hoped that would be the one to come after him, to give Billy the best possible chance of escaping.

But no, it was Justin, and in some sense it was fitting and inevitable that it be Justin. Billy had been right; he wasn't responsible for what Justin had done as a Psycho Ranger. Like all of the other Light Rangers, though, he was responsible for stopping Justin, and perhaps him more than the others, given all that they shared.

He summoned up his hammer, the two facing each other. A long moment passed as neither one made a move. The Light Ranger took a step forward, hefting his hammer, and to his surprise his opponent took several steps backward.

"Are you afraid to face me?" he challenged.

"You're the one who ran," his biological model laughed. "I'm not afraid; I'm just waiting."

Waiting for what, Justin began to ask, when he heard the hiss of doors opening on both sides. A horde of Quantrons poured into the corridor from the adjacent rooms and even as he chopped the head from one and smashed another with a side kick, Justin knew that he never should have taken his eyes off the true enemy.

The Psycho Axe smashed directly into his chest, knocking him to the floor as the surrounding Quantrons engulfed him.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Billy remembered concluding less than five minutes ago that his Power Lance was too long and unwieldly to be an effective weapon in this environment. The Gold Psycho Ranger's staff was of an equal size, yet he appeared to have no problem whatsoever using it effectively.

That was only errant thought Billy allowed to cross his mind, as the whole of his attention was focused on battling his foe. He took blow after blow, yet landed few return strikes and even those his enemy seemed to shrug off.

Then the booted foot slammed into his stomach like an asteroid impact, and he folded in half, putting himself in a perfect position for the downward blow of the staff to his helmet.

He literally collapsed at the Gold Psycho Ranger's feet, his morph falling away from him in a shower of sparks.

"You're lucky Justin wants you alive," his opponent remarked.

"Alive?" he coughed, raising his head to take in the figure towering over him. "Why?"

"You and the android are going to help replenish the ranks of the Psycho Rangers."

Billy had felt real fear more times than he could count during his career as a Ranger, so he knew that what he felt at these words was not that. No, what he felt was instead raw, animal terror! He'd come here prepared to die, but not to suffer a fate _worse_ than death! He had too much on his conscience as it was; he could not bear the idea of being turned into a living weapon for evil, as Tommy had been, as the original Justin had been.

A steely hand closed around his neck, lifting his whole body up by the throat with casual ease before brutally slamming him into the wall. He stared at the impassive helmet facing him, hating it more than he would have thought possible for an inanimate object. If not for that barrier, he could win this battle!

Instead all he could do was hope that the Light Ranger he'd brought with him on this suicide mission could somehow find a way to escape.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The Robot Ranger was wrenched up and into a position reminiscent of someone being crucified, with two Quantrons on each arm and two wrapped around his legs.

Looking upon his captive robot double Justin Stewart could not suppress a feeling of almost giddy glee. Once both Blue Rangers were properly reprogrammed and on his side, the new Psycho Rangers might well not even have to fight again personally in order win this war! The information in both of theirs heads, put to proper use, would likely be enough to topple the Galactic League of Light without the need for another campaign of planetary conquest.

"Justin, listen to me!" his captive insisted, the desperation clear and sweet in his tone.

"I don't think you have anything to say that I need to hear," the seventeen year-old countered as he pondered the best way to permanent incapacitate the android until reprogramming could take place. Perhaps the easiest route would be to simply sever his head with the Psycho Axe and reattach it afterwards.

"Billy can deactivate the machinery that's controlling you! He did it to Adam!"

"Adam's alive?" That was an oversight which would need to be remedied.

"Yes, and he's in control of himself again! You can be too! I am who you were and I know you don't want to be like this! You don't want to be evil!"

"That's where you're wrong! I'm not just going to be evil; I'm going to RULE evil! The explosion that disabled your ship? That was Dark Specter dying! The UAE throne is vacant, just waiting for me to take my rightful place upon it. And you're going to help me."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Fred was taken by surprise when Billy spat out, "If you're going to brainwash me, at least tell me who you really are first!"

"What are you talking about? Justin told me who I was when you had him prisoner! Which is something else I should take you apart for," he noted meaningfully.

"Justin told us you were Fred Kelman, but that's impossible."

"Why is that impossible?" he asked, actually curious now. He in no way expected the answer he got.

"Because I knew Fred Kelman, and he was a weakling."

"We could all tell that he'd never be good enough at the martial arts, or be good enough at _anything_, to be a Power Ranger!" the insect in his grasp went on remorselessly, infuriatingly! "Aisha told him he was in line to be one once, but that was only out of pity."

The urge to crush his larynx, hell, to go ahead and rip his whole head off, was such that the teenager had difficulty resisting it. Maybe that was what Billy wanted, though; maybe he was trying to get Fred to kill him.

"Fred could never have done all of this, even with the Gold Psycho Ranger powers! So who is it that's actually under that helmet?"

In the grip of his fury, Fred hit the clasp releases and removed his helmet, face to face with his captive.

"It's just me, Billy," he snarled, and in response Billy said, "Activate".

The tiny EMP pulse device he'd built into his morpher, a precaution in case his target woke up and resisted before he could use the handheld probe to deactivate the neural net, went off at the same time the shockwave of an explosion sent both men tumbling down the hall like leaves in a tornado.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

"I'm trying to help you!" the Robot Ranger insisted. "I'm trying to help you come back to who you are, who you should be!"

"Thanks, but I like who I am now, and soon you will too," Justin reassured him, drawing back the Psycho Axe for a decisive, decapitating swing, the blade glowing with a wicked red aura.

Everything happened so fast after that.

The Axe whistled through empty air, the robotic Justin having demorphed at the last second and thus having resumed Justin's thirteen year-old stature. The Axe carved through Quantrons who had already lost their grip when the arm they were clutching shrank down to about half its previous size.

The hand attached to that arm darted toward the bare-chested android's inner workings, openly exposed because the synth-flesh hiding it had been crudely and jaggedly cut away everywhere except at the waist, flopping forward in a long, wide strip.

Familiar with schematics of the Robot Rangers, the new, self-proclaimed leader of the United Alliance of Evil had enough time to see and comprehend that the hand was closing around an unfamiliar metal orb which had been inserted and attached to the android's power supply.

The explosion which followed wiped Justin Stewart, _all_ of him, from the galaxy.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Author's Notes-Again, my apologies for taking so long to get this up. I really hope you enjoyed the story! There's only the Epilogue left now, and I'll do my best to finish that and get it posted before the new year dawns.


	16. Epilogue

The waves lapped gently against the sandy shore in a languid, soothing rhythm. A breeze blew in from the sea, providing a welcome cooling effect to counteract the near-tropical temperature. Had Billy Cranston not known better, he might have assumed that this forty square yard landmass was a barren, deserted atoll in the Caribbean, rather than one of the few surface isles of equatorial Aquitar.

Further down the beach, hands crossed beneath his head as he lay near the water, was the person Billy had come here to see. He was a tall, extremely muscular young man with short, dark-brown hair, dressed in black shorts and a sleeveless black shirt. His shoes and socks were in a heap beside him and most of his visible skin had been bronzed by the sun, a healthy contrast to Adam and Kim's still striking pallor.

As he came to stand over the recumbent figure, Billy noticed Fred's eyes were closed.

"Fred? It's Billy. I'd like to talk with you."

"About what?" he asked, eyes still closed.

"About you joining the Light Rangers."

Now his eyes did flick open, and he abruptly raised himself to a sitting position.

"I'm not joining," he said shortly.

"Hear me out," Billy entreated.

"The war is over; the UAE is finished!"

"Fred, that's because you _won_ the war for us!" Billy reminded him, trying to rein in his frustration.

Once they'd both recovered from . . . from the explosion and after they had gone to see what had happened, Fred had brought Billy to the control room and given him free run of it. Then he had put the information stored in his staff about the locations of each of the Alliance's leaders to incredible use! One by one he went to ambush them, taking them by surprise and then taking them captive. By the time Billy had contacted the GLL and the remaining Light Rangers had teleported to the scene, the entire enemy high command was being held prisoner at the Dark Fortress!

With the absolute authority each leader held over their respective contingent of forces, superseded only by the deceased Dark Specter's ultimate authority as head of the Alliance, the United Alliance of Evil's surrender in such circumstances was a foregone conclusion. The years long, galaxy-spanning struggle had ended not with a bang, but a whimper.

The weeks which had followed had seen a virtual supernova of activity within the Galactic League of Light as they prepared for the trials of the UAE heads, began initial reconstruction and resettlement of dozens of war-torn worlds, and, at Billy's insistence, opened diplomatic relations with and offered aid to Earth, all amid the frenzied, near-riotous celebrations of much of the populace.

Billy had wondered a couple of times if he should go back to Earth, to help reconstitute the United States national government or even push for a one-world government. He had admittedly played an important role in the founding of the GLL; maybe he could make a real difference on his birth world.

Or perhaps not. His GLL work had been intensely focused on alerting people to the imminent danger and uniting them against it. He had no such issue of equal urgency for Earth, and he knew his genius lay in the field of technology rather than politics.

Then, too, he had already made his choice of planets years ago, when he had fallen in love with his wife. Earth was important to him, of course, but it wasn't his home, not anymore.

"Which is why you don't need me," the teenager concluded, his legs pulled up to his chest as he sat in the sand. "Evil has been beaten."

"No, it hasn't," Billy countered firmly. That he could say with absolute, rock-solid certainty, and this truth was the final reason he was needed here instead of on Earth. "When I became a Ranger we were fighting Rita Repulsa. Then it was Lord Zedd. Then it was the Machine Empire. After I left the team took on Divatox, then Astronema and Dark Specter and the Psycho Rangers. It never ends, Fred! There will always be a new threat, and the Rangers have to be ready to meet it."

Fred slipped his sock and shoes back on, then rose to his feet, a couple of inches taller than Billy. "You have Rangers, five of them including you, all with the Great Power."

"It's not enough," Billy said bluntly. "I've studied Ranger history, maybe more than anyone ever has except for Zordon, and do you know one of the things I found out?" He didn't wait for a question, continuing without pause. "The Rangers were always, ALWAYS, at their best when there were six of them."

"Look if I could give these powers to someone else so you could have your sixth Ranger, I would! But I can't, can I?" the large, physically formidable eighteen year-old inquired aggressively.

"No, you can't," Billy agreed sadly. A full examination of the Gold Psycho Ranger, physical and psychological, had been demanded shortly after the surrender had been officially signed. Billy himself had been curious as to how close Fred was to undergoing the same power rejection which had affected Jason, a consequence of the Gold Ranger powers not being intended for humans.

What he'd found was that the Gold Psycho Ranger powers had been altered and twisted to such an extent that they had inextricably bonded to Fred Kelman. They could not be lost, removed or transferred by any known means, and killing him would in all likelihood cause the powers to dissipate and be lost. Like the other Psycho Ranger powers, the Gold powers were having marked physical effects on their host, but to an even more dramatic degree than had been the case with Adam. The Gold Psycho powers were increasing his amount of muscle mass, greatly strengthening Fred's immune system, and, Billy had evidence to suggest, even halting the aging process! Further study and additional tests would be required to confirm that last effect, so it was in any case a conversation for another time. If he was indeed right, though, then time was the one thing Fred had in abundance.

That still didn't mean he could afford to waste any of it sitting around when the Rangers, the galaxy, needed him.

"So put the powers you have to use! Help us defend the galaxy."

"Is that what the rest of team wants? Are they eager to have the murderer of their friends join?" he inquired with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

That shot hit home, and Billy winced at the unpleasant truth. Reaction to the Gold Psycho Ranger joining their ranks had been mixed, to put it generously. Still, he trusted his Rangers to do the right thing.

"Tommy killed people too, when he first became the Green Ranger," Billy explained, a slight quaver in his voice. His killing of his old friend when there had been no real need was something he needed to deal with on his own time, not on Ranger time. "We didn't blame him because it wasn't his choice; what you do when you're mind-controlled is not your fault and Rangers know that. I'm not saying this will be easy, for anyone, but it will work. We trust you."

"Maybe you shouldn't!" Fred snapped before turning and walking a few angry strides down the beach.

The general reports Billy had gotten from Fred's Mind Healer, Skerranis, had indicated that he was doing well coping with the psychic trauma of the things he'd done. Undoubtedly his youth, resilience and the relatively brief amount of time he'd been part of the UAE contributed to that, as did his action of repentance and atonement in personally bringing to justice the remaining heads of the Alliance. To hear him warning them about not trusting him thus came as something of a shock to Billy.

"Fred, after I deactivated your neural net you could have killed me and stayed with the United Alliance of Evil if you wanted. Instead you saved the galaxy! Why shouldn't we trust you?" the genius asked in genuine bewilderment.

For long moments there was no reply, Fred continuing to face defiantly away from his interrogator. Then, at last, he spoke, so softly Billy almost missed it.

"Because of how I feel."

He turned back to Billy, tears in his eyes. "I've listened to Skerranis, I know I'm not responsible for what I did under the neural net. Or at least I try to believe that," he amended. "But what about now? The net is down, my mind is my own again, and you know what I feel most of all?" Like Billy had, he gave no time to answer the question. "I miss Justin. He killed Karen, he killed T.J., hell, he killed everyone in my resistance cell and raped my damn mind! And yet part of me still misses him!"

The admission affected Billy deeply, as it went straight to his own feelings. From the moment of the explosion on the Dark Fortress, a terrible suspicion had risen up in his mind, one which had proven justified when he examined the items left in the cargo hold of the GLL ship they'd used as a staging point.

In one of the boxes, wrapped in a familiar blue shirt, was a data pad with a brief final message.

**Rangers-I'm going with Billy to try to free the last two Psycho Rangers. If you're reading this, then I didn't make it back. Maybe I fell in battle, but it could also have been because I've rigged my power supply to blow if I manually trigger the bomb. I know it's not just my job to stop Justin, but we were exactly the same when I was first created and I owe it to him to do what he'd want. He'd do the same for me, if our situations were reversed; no one knows that better than I do. When they put the neural net on him, though, they locked away the best part of Justin, the one that cared about helping others. I don't think he'll be able to anticipate that I'd do this, not the way he is now. **

**I want you to know that you guys are my family, and I love you all. I hate inflicting another loss on you, and I hope you'll understand and forgive me. **

**Justin **

"I get that, Fred," Billy offered gently. "Even with his neural net on, Justin was someone special. I miss him too."

"No, you miss the android Justin, the one who never did anything wrong, who sacrificed himself for the greater good! I can understand that, but I never knew that Justin."

"They were both Justin. If you knew one, you knew the other."

Fred shook his head, maybe in disagreement, maybe in simple weariness. "I was never supposed to be a Ranger, Billy. Don't ask me to be one now."

"Fred, what I said about that on the Dark Fortress wasn't true. After you saved the parents of Angel Grove from Ivan Ooze you were on our list for future Rangers and everyone approved it, including Zordon. You were a hero even without powers, and you were always supposed to be one of us."

Billy thought that might have been enough, given the uncertainty on Fred's face, but in the end all he said was, "I'll think about it."

"Thank you," Billy told him, reluctantly conceding defeat, at least for now. He wasn't going to give up; every reason he'd given Fred remained valid, and eventually the younger man would see that. For now, though, he'd said all he could.

He brought his communicator up, ready to teleport back to the Rangers' HQ, but before he could say the words a message for him came over the comm.

"This is Admiral Telan. We have received reports of alien mercenaries, believed to be from the M51 galaxy, attacking Cestus, a world at the western edge of GLL territory. Can the Rangers respond?"

He knew it, he KNEW IT! It had come much sooner than he'd hoped, but he knew the next great threat would emerge in time. And Master Vile was possibly the worst one yet. The mighty sorcerer ruled the entire M-51 galaxy with an iron fist, and had all of its people and resources behind him. The sole time in the past he had briefly directed his attentions toward Earth, he had in short order reduced the Rangers to powerless children, destroyed the Command Center, and very nearly annihilated the entire planet!

"The Rangers are on their way," Billy reported. He hesitated, then continued. "Admiral, I'm afraid these might be only the first pawns in Master Vile's game. We're holding his daughter and son-in-law prisoner; I think he's coming for them."

"Understood," the Admiral replied. "I look forward to your after action report. Telan out."

Once Billy went to teleport, but this time what felt like a steel clamp closed around his wrist.

"Wait," Fred commanded. He swallowed and took a deep breath before releasing his punishingly powerful grip on Billy's now-aching arm. "I'll go with you."

Billy smiled in spite of the pain as the two teleported to the Light Rangers headquarters.

**The End**

_Notes: Now we've come at last to the conclusion of this tale. I hope you liked the ending, but I hope even more that you enjoyed the ride. Until next time! _


End file.
